Imitations Carved Deep
by bluebunny28
Summary: Tony was doing his typical after-battle sweep, when he came across an injured woman. He takes her back to the tower, and things just keep getting weird from there. fem!Loki
1. Chapter 1

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 1

 **Wow, I'm getting this out pretty early. I guess I just couldn't wait to see you all again. :) As promised, here is my new Avengers fic, featuring fem!Loki.**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Not So Much a Damsel in Distress...**

"I'm gonna do one final sweep of the tunnels, and then let's call it a day," Tony sent through the comms. It had been a tough battle.

Swarms of rat cyborg creatures came up from long forgotten underground tunnels and had terrorized the city. They had been about the size of fully grown golden shepherds with razor sharp teeth. While the Avengers found them easy to destroy, the sheer number had been a bit overwhelming. However, they were victorious and no citizens had been seriously injured.

That left final sweeps and clean up (which Tony was leaving to SHIELD not matter what Steve tried to say).

"Roger that, Iron Man. The SHIELD clean up crew is insisting that we leave it to them, so we can head back to the Tower once you're done down there. Be careful." Tony's eyebrows shot up under his face plate. Coulson must have told the other agents not to let Cap help out, because he would, _all the time._

It had been a day of mixed feelings when Agent Phil Coulson came waltzing through the doors of the Avengers' Tower. Natasha didn't _look_ surprised, and Clint looked like he wanted to both hug the other man and punch him in the face. Steve stuck with the former and offered to sign anything Phil wanted. Bruce smiled, and Tony offered the man a drink. All in all not a bad day, but Tony couldn't help thinking how Thor would pout when he realized what he missed out on.

After the Asgardian prince took his brother back to Dear Old Dad, they hadn't heard from him. It had been about six months, and nothing. Tony and the others speculated that maybe the trial was taking a lot longer than planned, since Loki was a prince. There were probably a lot of channels to go through and- oh who were they kidding? They could only hope Thor would tell them if he needed help, or that he would return when everything was finished.

Tony was jarred from his thoughts when he heard a scream up ahead. If he didn't know any better, it sounded like a woman in distress. The inventor upped his speed as much as he could and went in search of the woman. When he finally found her, well….you could say that she was in distress, but she was handling herself pretty well.

She was surrounded by two of the rat creatures, a third laid destroyed at her feet. The only apparent weapon she had was a crow bar. The slight woman didn't even look up when he came around the bend, but he didn't hesitate to blast the last two monsters away from her. Then she _scowled_ at him. Scowled!

"I had the situation under control, thank you very much." Tony liked her. She sassed him right after being attacked by rat cyborgs. Tony _liked_ her.

"Oh yeah? Then why did you scream? And you're welcome, by the way." Tony landed in front of her and kicked the rats out of his way. The suit lit up the area enough for him to see the woman properly now that he was closer. She was _pale_ (like haven't seen the sun in years pale) with messy black hair and clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed since she lost contact with the sun. Tony knew a homeless woman when he saw one, but this lady was different for some reason. She seemed fully aware of herself and did not care one bit what Tony thought of her.

The woman scowled once again and waved at her bloodied up leg.

"The creatures caught me by surprise and one latched onto my leg before I could defend myself. Mindless beasts." Tony flipped his face plate up and crouched to get a better look at the wound. He was no medical doctor, but he could definitely say that it needed stitches. The woman pulled back from him, and her grip tightened on the crow bar.

"That leg needs some medical attention. I can take you up to the surface and there are plenty of ambulances that can take you to the hospital."

"No." Tony snorted and stood.

"No? Seriously?" The woman glared at him.

"I will not go to a hospital. I refuse. They are not sufficient healers, and they only care if you have a plastic card." _Ah_. Right. Homeless woman, no health insurance.

"Well, then at least let me take you to one of the free clinics around here." Again the woman turned her nose up at the idea.

"Infection and disease ravage such places. Absolutely not." Tony held back the strong urge to growl.

"Look-" The homeless woman reared back.

"I did not ask for your help! Now, go. Leave me be! I am sure there are multitudes up in the light in need of your assistance." She turned to walk off, but her leg gave out after only a couple of steps. While the woman bit her lip to keep from crying out, Tony still heard the pained whimper loud and clear. It pulled at his poor, superhero heartstrings, and his anger ebbed a bit.

Tony needed to get this woman help, and since she refused to go to a hospital or a clinic, he came up with the next best solution. As the woman tried to use the wall to pull herself back onto her feet, Tony stepped forward to help.

"If you won't go to either a hospital or a clinic, I guess I'll just have to kidnap you and take you to my tower." The woman was in such a shock, she allowed him to pull her up and keep an arm around her waist.

"What?!" For a brief moment, Tony thought he saw a shimmer of gratitude and hope, but it was quickly swept away by suspicion. The woman narrowed her eyes. "Are you attempting to proposition me? Because if you are, I can assure you that I am not of that…kind, and I will cut off your hands should you attempt to-"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Tony held his hands in defense. "No propositioning is happening. Pinky promise. Besides the fact that I have a wonderful woman already, thank you very much, I am just trying to help. One of my friends is a doctor and can help you, free of charge, no insurance necessary. You can stay as long as you like, or you can skedaddle as soon as your leg will allow. Either way, _I'll_ feel much better." The woman snorted at his last statement and eyed him critically.

The woman looked between him and further into the tunnels multiple times. It obviously wasn't easy for her to trust Tony, which he could easily understand. However, a lot of blood was coming from her leg, and he would much rather she hurry up than bleed to death in front of him. Finally, she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Very well. I will allow your doctor to treat me, but then you _will_ allow me to leave." Tony nodded.

"Sure, but if your leg needs time to heal and further treatment than a Band Aid, you are staying with me until it's good to go." When the woman opened her mouth to protest, Tony was quick to interrupt. "Hey, c'mon. Think of it. Free medical care. Free food. A nice, clean place to sleep, and you'll totally be safe, because you'll be living with a bunch of superheroes." The woman looked like she really did was to argue.

Yet, at the mention of food and a bed, she seemed to deflate in exhaustion, and the inventor knew he had won. Tony could feel even through the suit how prominent her ribs and spine were under her clothing. Suddenly,

"Iron Man, do you copy? Has something happened?" Tony sighed. He had actually completely forgotten that there were people waiting for him to emerge from the tunnels. Well, better now than later. He looked at the woman the entire time he replied.

"Yeah, Cap. Loud and clear. I'll be right out. And guys, we're gonna have a visitor for a while, so please behave and try not to scare her off." The woman didn't say anything to the opposite while he spoke, so Tony assumed she had acquiesced.

" _Her_ , Stark? What about Pepper?" Tony rolled his eyes at Natasha's jabs.

"Seriously, what is it today? I have not been _propositioning_ , and I have not forgotten that I have a wonderful girlfriend. A beautiful, scary girlfriend." The woman (and Stark really needed to find out her name so he could stop calling her 'the woman') gave him a strange look.

"Who are you talking to?" Tony turned to her and flashed her a charming smile.

"My team. You'll meet them once we get to the Tower." He used that as the landing block for opening his arms. She looked unsurprisingly suspicious. Tony rolled his eyes again. "Look you really can't walk on that leg, so it'll be less painful and a lot faster if I fly us out of here. I promise not to cop a feel." The woman was looking convinced, until the last bit, to which she looked decidedly unimpressed. It worked, however, and she stepped up onto his boot and wrapped her arms around Iron Man's neck.

Tony's face plate snapped back into place, and his arms slid around her waist. She was extremely tense and gave off a bad vibe, making Tony want to loosen up on his grip. If he did, though, she could easily slide off in mid-air.

"Well, if we're gonna be this close, might as well be on first name basis. Tony, Tony Stark, obviously." The woman snorted, and she relaxed some.

"Not so obvious, I can assure you….and you may call me Kira." Tony smiled. The name fit the woman in his arms, homeless for who knows how long yet a bright fire burning in her vibrant green eyes.

 _"_ _Sir, are you ready? I have taken the liberty of alerting Dr. Banner of Miss Kira's need for medical attention."_ Tony loved his AI. He needed to give him like a virtual card or bouquet of flowers or something.

"Yep, Jarv. On our way. And remind the others what I said about best behavior. If I hear anyone even suggest Kira's a prostitute, they're out of the Tower." Kira seemed taken aback for a moment at Tony's protective words, but instead of saying anything, she laid her cheek against his breast plate and tightened her grip.

And they were off.

Tony kept his speed reigned in while they were still in the tunnels, letting Kira get used to it, but once they were out, he let loose. The SHIELD team below them seemed to have everything under control, and some Good Samaritans were helping clear out what they could. Tony might have been showing off some, when he picked up speed, but the other reason was that he truly didn't want Kira to bleed out. He couldn't tell how serious it was in the tunnels, but once they landed on Stark Tower's helipad, Kira looked more pale than before.

The other Avengers were already there, waiting for them. Kira stepped down from his boot but swayed dangerously. Steve reached them first and held her up, while Tony got his suit removed. Tony motioned towards the doors where Bruce was standing. He looked wiped out, but willing to help. Steve didn't move right away, however.

"Ma'am, would it be alright with you if I carried you to the medical room?" Kira seemed surprised at the request but straightened and nodded.

"You may." Tony got the distinct impression that Kira was raised in a…privileged household, and he could tell he wasn't the only one. Even as Steve scooped her up and dwarfed her, she managed to looked respectable. The Captain picked up the pace when blood started to hit the floor.

Dr. Banner reached the medical room first and told Steve to put Kira down on the bed prepared. Tony and Cap gathered on one side of the bed, while Natasha and Clint hung back, observing.

"Well, hello Ms.-?"

"Kira. Her name is Kira." Both Kira and Bruce gave Tony unimpressed looks for answering.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. I may be injured, but I still know my own name." Tony felt duly chastised but didn't step back any. He felt…protective, and maybe a smidgen possessive. It was like he had called dibs, because he found her.

"Well, Kira, can you tell me what happened? Don't answer that, Tony." Kira gave Dr. Banner her undivided attention.

"I was returning home and was set upon by three rat creatures. One of them bit my leg before I managed to destroy it, then Mr. Stark showed up in his…loud manner. He demanded I let him whisk me off to his Tower and doctor. I apologize for being thrust upon you all." No one paid her apology any mind, however. They were too busy glaring at Tony.

"You can't just kidnap people, Stark! Why didn't you take her to a hospital?" Tony opened his mouth to defend himself (even though it would probably just dig himself a deeper hole), when Kira spoke up.

"I refused to let him take me to a hospital or free clinic. I…do not live as regular citizens and lack the required cards and numbers and such. The clinics are infested with disease, and I would not allow him to escort me to one." It finally dawned on the others that Kira wasn't just some hurt woman Tony found walking down the street. She was homeless.

"Now, if you don't mind, I will be…passing out…now." The last thing Kira heard was multiple voices calling her name.

* * *

 **Well? What did you think? Let me know!**

 **Please review:)**


	2. Chapter 2

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 2

 **Hey all! Glad to hear you guys are interested so far. :) Hopefully I can pull you in farther;) I wanted to let you know that I will not update next week as I will be on vacation in a place with no wifi. I will also be going back to college in a couple of weeks, which will mean sporadic updates. Please be patient with me. Education comes first, and sometimes I am just too brain dead to get a chapter to you. Thank you.**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **New House Guest**

"Back up! She's just passed out from blood loss and probably pain. These wounds on her leg look very deep. Tony, I said back up, not get closer!" The inventor didn't look the least bit guilty though he did step back from Kira to let Bruce do his job.

Dr. Banner stared down at Kira's legs and seemed to be contemplating whether to take the time to pull the pants fully off or just cut them off where he needed to work. Tony waved his hand about.

"I'll replace whatever she needs. I was planning on giving Kira a new set of clothes anyway, though I'm sure she'd fight me on that too." Natasha raised a brow, finding herself the slightest bit surprised at Stark's charity for a stranger. Granted the girl was pretty, but this was different.

"She seemed pretty headstrong. Just because someone is in need, Tony, doesn't mean they want charity. Kira might be homeless, but she obviously still has her pride." Tony's face fell, and the assassin rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying don't help her. I'm just telling you that she might not be as accepting of your generosity as much as your willing to give it." Stark actually seemed to consider it before shrugging.

"Well, I guess we'll find out when she wakes up again. Banner, I leave her in your capable hands." Bruce picked up a pair of scissors and waved them all out. He wasn't going to expose Kira in front of the entire team.

Dr. Banner winced in sympathy when he finally cut off Kira's dirtied jeans. Bruce pulled off her boots and socks as well to get a completely unobstructed view of the injury. The wounds were jagged and deep. Bruce could picture the creature latching on. One swift jerk of its head and Kira would have come in with an entire calf missing. If he didn't know any better, he would have said Kira had been attacked by a shark.

Bruce reached out with a gloved hand and a moist towel, trying to clear the blood away. As he did so, he felt around, hoping that the only thing damaged was muscle. To be certain, he had Jarvis run a few scans.

 _"Dr. Banner, no bones are broken or chipped. However, the young woman's Achilles tendon does have a tear in it."_ Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's not completely ruptured?" Jarvis brought up some images for the doctor to look at.

 _"No, Sir. The damage was done mainly to muscle, but a few teeth appear to have torn the tendon in a few places."_ Though Bruce had known the woman a total of three minutes, he could already picture her face when he told her that she would be in a cast for weeks. Dr. Banner sighed, but went about gathering some local anesthetic, sterile needles, thread, etc. As he sat down to get started, he gave Jarvis some final instructions.

"Let me know if she starts to wake up, and do _not_ let Tony in here no matter how bored or tired of waiting he is. Tell him I'll Hulk out in his lab again if he does."

 _"Certainly, Dr. Banner."_ Bruce could have sworn he heard amusement in the AI's voice. He shook his head and went to work.

* * *

"So she was in the tunnels?" Tony poured himself a drink from the bar and nodded.

"Right in one go, Cap. Heard her scream, came around the corner, and there she was: crow bar raised, one rat down and two more surrounding her." Clint tilted his head as though considering.

"Sounds hot." Tony opened his mouth to comment (obviously leaning towards yes) when Jarvis interrupted.

 _"Sir, you should know, Miss Potts is about to exit the elevator."_ The inventor's mouth snapped shut so fast, they could hear his teeth click together.

"Nice save, Jarv." The elevator down the hall _dinged_ open, and Pepper's shoes clicked on the floor. Tony's smile oozed extra charm, because he could tell just from the sound of her heels that she wasn't happy. As soon as he saw her face, that was confirmed.

"Tony, what is this I keep hearing about Iron Man whisking a beautiful, young woman away to his tower? Something you want to tell me?" Pepper crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, daring him to lie to her. Tony held his hands up in defense, and he got a sense of deja vu.

"Pep, I was just doing my job as a superhero-"

"Saving damsels in distress?" Tony felt like he was trying to defuse a bomb without the instruction manual.

"Tony actually was helping the woman, Pepper. She lives in the tunnels and was badly injured. She herself admitted that she refused to let Tony take her to a hospital or clinic. If Tony hadn't convinced her to let Bruce look at her, she probably would have died from infection or blood loss." Natasha for the win! If Tony didn't think the assassin would slice his throat, he would hug her. Well, not really. The only red-heads he hugs anymore are CEOs of his company.

Pepper's demeanor changed instantly, and she took a seat.

"Is she alright? Can Bruce help?" Tony plopped down next to her, not spilling a drop of his drink.

"Well, we only just left him to it, but I think he'll do just fine. If not, we'll hear the Hulk soon." When Steve looked worried, Tony rolled his eyes. "Not really, Capsicle. Bruce will just come out and tell us that we need to bring in an 'actual doctor'."

 _"That shouldn't be necessary, Sir. Dr. Banner appears to be taking care of Miss Kira swiftly and efficiently. I would estimate another twenty-three minutes."_ Tony smirked.

"There you go." Clint raised his hand suddenly, and everyone gave him a confused look. Everyone except Natasha who just rolled her eyes at the archer.

"Yes, Clint? What's your question?" Clint stuck his tongue out at the other assassin and put his arm down.

"What was she doing in the tunnels? I mean, all the homeless I know live on the streets or under bridges." Tony just shrugged.

"I don't know. She was pale as a sheet when I first saw her, like she hadn't seen the sun in months. So, she's probably been down there for a while." Natasha had a calculating look on her face.

"That would be the first place I'd be…if I was hiding from someone." Clint's eyebrows rose and then he was nodding vigorously.

"Yeah. That makes perfect sense. That's probably another reason she didn't want Tony to take her to a hospital." Steve looked skeptical.

"But who is she hiding from? Living in tunnels seems kind of extreme if you were just hiding from an abusive boyfriend or something. You don't think she's a spy, do you?" Before the archer could enthusiastically reply, Pepper held up a hand.

"Wait a minute. I think you guys are getting ahead of yourselves. Why don't you just wait to ask her when Bruce is done?" Before anyone else could say something, the television on the wall came to life. Fury's irritated face filled the screen.

"Stark, why am I getting reports that you kidnapped someone?" The inventor through his head back and sighed dramatically.

"For the last time, I didn't kidnap anyone, and I was whisking a beautiful woman to my tower to have my wicked way with her. I was doing my final sweep of the tunnels, found her injured and fighting off some rat cyborgs, and convinced her to get medical treatment here since she refused to let me take her to a hospital. I'm sure once Bruce is done patching her up, she'll run out of here." Fury scowled.

"Are you sure she isn't a spy?" Pepper rolled her eyes and threw up her hands.

"Are you all that paranoid?" Natasha only lifted a brow and tilted her head to the side. Fury ignored Miss Potts and looked to Clint and Romanoff.

"Report." Clint considered it and then shrugged. Natasha stared at the wall and then shook her head.

"She seemed pretty legit to me. No concealed weapons or anything," Clint reported.

"Kira was legitimately injured when Stark brought her in. She seemed nervous and suspicious of _us,_ though she hid it well. We were just discussing that it was suspicious that she lived in the tunnels, but beyond that, I don't think there's anything we need to worry about. Besides, if she is a spy, we've got top of the line facilities to hold her in right here." Fury considered all of it, before nodding.

"Very well. Keep me informed of _any_ changes." Then the line was cut, and the screen was black once more. Tony sunk down into his seat and sighed again.

"Great. Now we're gonna have SHEILD breathing down our necks about this. Jarvis, triple security and make sure they don't hack into any video feed."

 _"Certainly, Sir. And you might like to know that Dr. Banner is finished-"_ Stark was up and running, before Steve could tell him not to. The others rolled their eyes and left to follow the inventor in a much more subdued manner. Then they pictured Tony scaring Bruce into Hulking and picked up the pace.

They went around the corner just in time to see Tony disappear into the med room. Steve held the door open for the others when they reached the room. When he followed them in, his face matched the others' in its slight surprise.

"A cast?" Dr. Banner had his glasses in one hand and was pinching the bridge of his nose with the other. The man took a few deep breaths before he looked at them. Nobody was going to stop Bruce from taking a couple seconds to breathe, not even Tony.

"Yes. A cast. I had to give her over fifty stitches. The cast is because some of the rat's teeth tore her achilles tendon. She's lucky it wasn't completely snapped. This way, she won't need surgery, but she will have to stay in the cast for four to six weeks, followed by some serious physical therapy." Tony whistled. Suddenly, Pepper grabbed his arm.

"Tony, you can't send her out like that." Tony raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Pep, I know this. I wasn't planning on it, but the hard part is going to be convincing Kira to stay. If she wasn't losing consciousness from pain and blood loss before, I probably wouldn't have gotten her here to begin with." Stark looked over at Bruce. "I'm going to need back-up, like 'I'm a doctor, not following my advice will kill you' kind of back-up." Everyone tensed, when Kira started to move and wake up.

"Quick, Steve," Tony hissed. "Turn on the puppy eyes." Captain America rolled his eyes instead, but he was quickly distracted by a hiss of pain from the bed. Kira blinked her green eyes open and moved to sit up. She froze, when Bruce laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Careful there. You should probably stay down for a little bit, until your body has replaced the blood its lost. Unfortunately, we don't have blood here to speed up the process." Kira didn't seem to fully comprehend all that Dr. Banner had said, but she nodded anyway. She pressed back into the pillows when she finally noticed she was surrounded but narrowed her eyes when she saw her leg.

"What is this? Why did you do this?" She reached forward as though to try and tug the cast off, but was once again stopped by Bruce's hand on her shoulder.

"Kira, lay back. When the creatures bit you, they tore your achilles tendon. You're lucky it wasn't severed completely, but you are going to have to keep the cast on for a number of weeks." The young woman's eyes widened for a moment, before she turned to glare at Stark.

"You told him to do this, didn't you? I cannot survive out there like this!" Stark held his hands up in defense for what felt like the fiftieth time that day.

"Hey, Kira, this is all Dr. Banner. If it was just some stitches, I would have asked you to stay for just a day or two. You may have been influenced by the pain, but a deal's a deal. You agreed when I said if you needed more than a Band-Aid you would be staying here, until given the all-clear. I won't keep you here against your will, but like you said, you can't survive out there in a cast." Kira scowled at the truth in the inventor's words. She looked at the others observing her.

"And you are all fine with allowing a stranger into your haven?" Before Clint could open his big mouth and say something no doubt offensive, Pepper spoke.

"Well a few of them might think you're a spy, but you are more than welcome to spend your recovery here." Kira turned to the one face she had not seen since arriving. She saw the way the woman had a hand on Tony's arm and understanding lit her eyes.

"Ah. You must be the beautiful woman Stark told me about." Pepper raised a brow and smiled. She looked at Tony, and the inventor wasn't sure whether the smile was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You told Kira about me? Now how did you get on that subject?" Kira answered for Stark, as she felt it was her doing.

"I…misunderstood his offer of aid, and assumed he was propositioning me. When I threatened to cut his hands off, he assured me those were not his intentions, that he had a beautiful girlfriend already and would not do such a thing." Tony silently thanked Kira, because now he was safely out of the vicinity of any dog houses. Then he heard Clint snort.

"A couple years ago you would have been right in your assumptions." Tony glared at the archer, but he was already getting a stink eye from Steve. Then the Captain threw in his two cents.

"I know I would feel much better, knowing you were recovering here, rather than in the tunnels. But understand, that we are putting as much trust in you as you are in us. If you prove to be a threat to my team, I will not hesitate to do what is necessary." Tony was taken aback at Steve's threatening tone, but Kira actually seemed to gain respect for the captain. She inclined her head to him.

"I would expect no less. I can see that you are a fine leader that cares about those in your team. I will do what I can to not disrespect the generosity you have all bestowed upon me." They were all extremely curious now to find out where Kira had come from originally. Her manner of speech and extreme sense of awareness and propriety had to have been bred into her. They now had a very interesting house guest.

* * *

 **None of this was proper medical procedure! I haven't made it to medical school yet.**

 **Well? What did you think? Let me know!**

 **Please review:)**


	3. Chapter 3

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 3

 **Hey oh! I'm back! Good to see you ;) I hope you have enjoyed the two chapters I left you with. Now, prepared to be amazed by a third!**

 **PS I don't abandon stories. This will get finished! Me going to school just means the updates won't be as regular as you or I would like.**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Tell vs. Don't, Wheelchair vs. Crutches**

Dr. Banner had to order Kira to rest for a few hours, and though she initially fought him on the point, one glance at Steve reminded her of her promise. Kira then begrudgingly stayed put and ended up falling asleep half an hour later. She curled up in the fetal position as much as she was able with the cast on her leg and an IV in her arm. Her black hair blanketed the pillow and her neck, a few strands falling in front of her face.

Tony could admit that he thought she was beautiful, but his playboy days were over. He was a committed man! Also, there was no way he would take advantage of Kira like that. Talk about consent issues. He had gotten lectured on that a few times growing up, and not all of them were because the _other_ person involved was in dubious condition to give consent.

Anyway, Tony's thoughts went dark places when he let them wander too far. Instead, he shook his head and got back into focus in the conversation around him.

"…So I want to try and get her on a nutritional diet while she's here, to hopefully get her up to a healthy weight. She could use a lot of vitamin C, what with her not even getting out into the sun much at all," Bruce said as he wrote some things down.

"I'd be happy to have Jarvis add anything you need to the grocery list." Tony shot Pepper an indignant look.

"Hey! That's _my_ AI." After a few beats, "Jarvis, add anything Bruce deems necessary to the grocery list." A number of the others rolled their eyes.

" _Yes, Sir."_ Tony glared at the ceiling for its tolerant tone.

"I'd be happy to help cook some things," Steve called from the kitchen. He really was the only person besides Bruce that cooked in the tower. Everyone else would have been content with take-out every dinner and sandwiches and cereal for the other meals, but Steve insisted on cooking most mornings and every few evenings. Sometimes Bruce pitched in when he missed a certain foreign dish.

"Hey, Cap? Didn't you threaten to like, kill Kira if she stepped out of line?" Steve shrugged at Clint's inquiry.

"Well so far, she hasn't done anything to harm the team. So I'll treat her like anyone else in need. Innocent until proven guilty and all that." Sometimes the things Steve Rogers said really destroyed the Boy Scout image Tony grew up with.

"Guys, you do realize that she's going to be in the tower all by herself when we get called out on missions, right? Unless, one of us is going to stay behind…" Tony scoffed.

"She won't be alone. Jarvis will keep an eye on her." A few months ago, none of the others would have been convinced that Jarvis was enough to keep someone safe or stop an intruder. After multiple incidences where the AI has done just that, the Avengers were believers.

"Oh, Jarvis, can you set up a room for Kira near the kitchen and living area. That way she won't have to walk so far," Pepper smiled up at the ceiling.

 _"Certainly, Miss Potts."_ Tony threw his arm over Pepper's shoulders and smiled at her.

"You think of everything, don't you?" Pepper patted his chest.

"Why do you think you've managed to stay alive this long?" Clint didn't even pretend he didn't laugh at that. Tony didn't argue with her, because…well, it was basically true. If any of them had been in his life before he had hired the strawberry blond on a whim, they would be bowing down to her at the moment. Tony did (in his head) on a regular basis.

They all heard the door to the oven shut, and Steve came around into the living space to sit with them.

"What is it this time, oh Captain, my Captain? Brownies? Sugar cookies? Good ol' chocolate chip?" Steve tinged slightly pink at Tony's teasing but happily said,

"Snickerdoodles, actually." Clint 'oooooo'd at the announcement and called first dibs. Natasha scoffed.

"You can back off of my cookies, thank you very much. You get second dibs." It surprised Tony how immature that two assassins could be. Clint was immature about sixty percent of the time, while Natasha had a few moments here and there. Maybe it had to do with their lack of a normal childhood, or maybe they just fed off of each other. Tony wasn't a psychologist, so he really needed to stop trying to psychoanalyze his teammates.

" _Sir, Miss Kira is attempting to leave the medical room."_ Dr. Banner and Tony were on their feet in a flash, quickly followed by everyone but Pepper.

"Okay, calm down. I don't think she needs all of you running down the hall at her. Tony and Bruce can go. The rest of us can sit here and wait. Jarvis will let us know if they need help restraining a ninety pound young woman in a cast." Steve and Clint sat back down chastised, while Natasha leaned against the arm of Clint's chair.

Tony and Bruce meanwhile rolled their eyes and got going. Sure enough, when they got the medical room, Kira was standing at the end of the bed. She was hoping on one foot and using the metal bed frame for support. A sheet obviously stolen from the bed was wrapped around her lower half to keep herself covered. She looked at them with wide eyes, as both men rushed forward. Tony and Bruce each took an arm.

"Whoa there, Kira. You're supposed to be chilling in the bed. What're you doing?" Dr. Banner wasn't all that surprised when after a slight blush tinted Kira's cheeks she said,

"I needed to use the restroom." Dr. Banner nodded.

"Ah. Well, how about, first, we settle you on the edge of the bed, and Tony should ask Pepper and Natasha if they have any sweatpants or pajama pants that you can borrow." Bruce sent a pointed enough look Tony's way, that he knew the leave the room rather than just repeating what Dr. Banner said to Jarvis. After making sure Kira was secure in Dr. Banner's grip, Tony let her go and left the room.

Left alone with Bruce, Kira allowed him to assist her to the bed. She sat down with a sigh of defeat.

"I…apologize for being an inconvenience, Doctor. I did not think it would be this difficult to simply walk down the halls." If Bruce couldn't tell before, it was obvious now how much of an independent woman Kira was. She didn't want pity of any kind and despised needing any help.

"You aren't an inconvenience, Kira. If you were, you wouldn't be here. And yes, it will be difficult for you to walk for a while, partly because of the cast and pain, and partly because of how exhausted you are right now. No need to worry though, we have a wheelchair and crutches available." Dr. Banner was surprised at the very physical reaction Kira had to the mention of a wheelchair.

"I would take the crutches you mentioned over the wheelchair, Doctor. Please." Bruce didn't want to push her right then with questions so he just nodded.

"That's fine. I'll adjust them to your height. But if you ever need it, the wheelchair is here." Kira nodded, but didn't seem too thrilled with the idea.

"May I…may I ask you something?" Kira seemed uncharacteristically hesitant in her speech. Dr. Banner was curious as to what her question would be.

"Of course." Kira took a couple moments to get everything straight in her head before questioning the doctor.

"You, you seem unfazed as to my living situation. Most people treat me differently once they find out I do not live in an apartment or house. Why do you not?" Bruce could only shrug.

"I was on the run from my country's military for years and lived in some poverty stricken places. To me it's not that unusual. There were plenty of times where I was in the same boat as you. Sometimes it is all you can do just to find food and shelter day after day. This is the longest I've stayed anywhere since after the accident, and I still feel overwhelmed at times." Kira relaxed after the explanation, as if she had been waiting for some vitriol or sickly sympathetic platitudes. Then her head cocked to the side and her brow furrowed.

"Accident?" Kira's eyes traveled over his body, searching for scars or signs of harm that would not be there. Bruce's own eyes widened.

"You- you don't know?" Maybe it was stupid of him to assume everyone knew that he was the Hulk at this point. However, he didn't know if he should tell Kira or just keep it on the down low so to speak until absolutely necessary. He needed to be able to treat Kira down the line, but if he told her and she got scared of him, he wouldn't be able to. _But_ -

"I cannot say that I do, Dr. Banner." Kira was quite confused by the doctor's words and actions. The man seemed surprised and afraid at the same time at the prospect of Kira not knowing about his 'accident'. Perhaps it was just too painful for him and he hated talking about it. And what was that he had said about his own country's military chasing him around the planet? Before she could get anything more from the doctor, however, Tony and Pepper entered the room.

Pepper was holding a pair of dark grey sweatpants and had a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hi, Kira. Heard you needed something to wear. Since you'll be staying here for a while, I'll have Jarvis scan your measurements and order some items for you. If you are comfortable with that, that is…" Pepper trailed off. In all honesty, if Kira refused, Pepper would order her new clothing anyway and just keep it stored until Kira caved. However, Kira seemed to understand that clothing was a necessity and someone with great means was offering her that necessity as a gift. The black-haired woman bowed her head.

"You are too generous." Tony snorted.

"Giving you medical attention, a place to stay and clothing is not generosity. It's human decency." Kira's eyes shone with something none of them could quite place, though there was one thing they could make out. Human decency was not something Kira was accustomed to.

Pepper looked at the two men in the room.

"Well, Boys, I think Kira and I have it from here. You two go talk shop in the hallway, and I'll let you know when it's safe to come back in." Tony opened his mouth to argue, but Bruce nodded and dragged Tony out the door. As soon as they were gone, Pepper smiled back at Kira and stepped forward. The woman on the bed eyed her warily.

"I- I am certain that I can do this on my own, Miss Pepper." Pepper lifted an incredulous brow at her.

"You can't put any weight on one leg. You are in pain. You are exhausted. I'm helping you put these pants on. Then I'm helping you get to the bathroom and bedroom so you can rest somewhere away from sterile white walls. Then I will, probably with Tony coming along, get you for dinner." Pepper's assertiveness sparked a fire of defiance in Kira, and the strawberry blonde was pleased to see it. Kira wasn't cowed and would not allow anyone to bully her into anything.

"I thank you for your assistance with the clothing. I am amenable to rest and food, however I can walk on my own. I do not need assistance in that area, as Dr. Banner has offered me crutches. I will also eat in my room so as not to disturb the other occupants of the Tower-" Here Pepper stopped her.

"No. You will eat with the team at every meal. Besides the fact that Dr. Banner has a meal plan laid out for you and he needs to make sure you eat everything; you need to learn to interact with the team. The safest place for you to do that is meal times. They all tend to behave themselves when there is food in front of them…for the most part." Kira thought over the new demands and found them… satisfactory but not pleasant.

She did not want to form attachments with the people on this tower. Though they seemed genuine and sincere in their concern and generosity, as soon as she is healed and gone, they will forget all about her. Kira will be back on the streets, in hiding, trying to survive by way she can scavenge day in and day out. However, she had not eat in a day or so (she couldn't quite remember) and hadn't eaten with such a large group since…well, best not think about that. Needless to say, a banquet table of rowdy warriors would be nothing new to her.

Finally Kira nodded.

"Very well. I accept these conditions." Pepper smiled again.

"Good, now let's get you out of that bed sheet and into these pants." Kira suddenly remembered what she was wearing and slowly unclenched her fingers from the fabric. She could have easily made a toga out of the sheet; she had done so before. However, she shivered in the air conditioned room and was looking forward to more substantial coverings.

Kira took off the sheet with some maneuvering and set it aside on the bed. Then Pepper kneeled by her feet.

"Miss Pepper what-" Pepper giggled.

"Oh, please just Pepper, Sweetie. And calm down. I'm not going to bite your leg off. I'm just going to slip the sweatpants over your feet and pull them to your knees." Kira felt a bit foolish for overreacting and only nodded in response.

Pepper did just as she said she would and soon she was helping Kira balance on one foot and pull the pants up the rest of the way. Kira couldn't stop the sigh of relief and satisfaction that came from wearing such comfortable and warm clothing. Tears, unbidden, pricked in the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip fiercely and tried to conceal her reaction. Pepper wrapped an arm around Kira's shoulder and pulled her into a side hug.

"Oh, Kira. It's alright. What…what are you crying about?" Pepper had a good idea, but she didn't want to assume anything. Kira cleared her throat a few times to dislodge the lump in it.

"It has been…a very long time since I had something so nice to wear. I am a bit overwhelmed by the generosity today. Do not be surprised if this happens at the dinner table as well." Pepper held her tighter for a moment, before letting go and smiling at her.

She surreptitiously wiped some tears from her own eyes before they left the room.

* * *

 **I don't want Loki/Kira to be super emotional in this fic. I just let the characters be free, and this happened. It shouldn't happen too often though, I don't think.**

 **Well? What did you think? Let me know!**

 **Please review:)**


	4. Chapter 4

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 4

 **Heyo! So I'm officially back in college. Classes don't start until Tuesday, so I'll try and get a lot of writing done before then. I hope you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. :)**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Overreacting?**

Bruce let go of Tony's shoulder as soon as they were out in the hallway. Then the doctor sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Tony, who had been about to say something snarky no doubt, paused.

"I know that look, Brucie. What's going on?" Dr. Banner really didn't know why he was reacting like this now, but for some reason Kira not knowing he was the Hulk greatly bothered him.

"Kira…doesn't know about the Other Guy." Tony's brow furrowed.

"I'm not sure why that's got you like this. Most people wouldn't look at you and go, 'Oh! That's the Hulk!'. But…" It was Tony's turn to look confused and slightly distressed. He started to think back to a couple of things Kira said when he had first encountered her.

"What is it, Tony?" Bruce couldn't help but think that they were overreacting. Maybe Dr. Banner had gotten too used to living with people who knew and accepted the Other Guy.

"Well, when I first ran into Kira and introduced myself, I said 'I'm Tony, Tony Stark, obviously'. But then she said, 'Not so obvious, I can assure you'. I would bet my last dollar that Kira doesn't know the names of anyone else in the Tower, unless she's heard us say them. Which begs the question, where did she come from and what has she been doing since she's been here?"

Bruce mumbled a quiet, "That's two questions," but let Tony keep going. It sounded like the inventor was on to…something, at least.

"I mean, I understand that she's homeless, but everyone in New York knows about us. Every news report mentions all of our names. Even if she was living in the tunnels, she would have had to come up for food at some point. She would have seen posters, graffiti and plenty of reports about us on multiple screens and devices. Kira wasn't scared when she saw me, but she didn't know who I was. She didn't say anything about Iron Man, or Tony Stark, until _after_ I had said them." Bruce had his lips pursed.

"Seems like the typical move people use if they forget someone's name. Sounds like she probably used it to not seem ignorant or prying. Let you fill in the blanks for her, and if she needs to, ask simple questions to prod you in the right direction." Tony leaned back against the wall.

"I get the feeling Kira's a very smart woman." Bruce nodded in agreement, and then the door opened. Pepper was holding the door wide, while Kira maneuvered the crutches into the opening. She pulled herself out of the room, and a small quirk of her lip showed that she was proud of her accomplishment.

"Excuse us, Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark. Pepper is showing me to my room." Instead of moving, Tony pouted.

"Pep! I wanted to be the tour guide!" Pepper rolled her eyes at the inventor.

"Tony, you would forget that Kira was on crutches in five minutes and start running around the building." Kira raised an eyebrow, confused and curious. Bruce answered her silent query.

"It has happened before. When Clint finally decided to move in, he happened to be injured and confined to crutches for a week. Tony tried to give him a tour, but left him stranded and exhausted on the sixteenth floor." Tony narrowed his eyes.

"And no one lets me forget it," he muttered. Kira bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from smiling. She figured it was best not to encourage Stark's childish behavior. He wasn't the first man-child she had come across and knew, more or less, how to handle them.

"Well, Kira, let's go ahead and go down this hallway." Kira maneuvered her crutches so she could follow the strawberry blonde. Pepper stayed mostly right beside her, slowing her walk so as not to leave Kira behind. She chattered on about the construction of the Tower and Tony's idiosyncrasies, who lived on which floor and the like. Kira only managed to hear the general layout of the Tower and who lived where. Beyond that she was just focused on continuously moving the crutches and keeping a steady pace.

Before Tony Stark had found her in the tunnels, Kira had just come back from an unsuccessful food scavenging expedition. She honestly hadn't eaten in about two days, only able to score some relatively clean water. Only her fear and determination was keeping her on her feet at that point. Pepper kept peeking at Kira out of the corner of her eye and started to see the amount of effort the black-haired woman was putting into simply going down the hallway.

Both were relieved when they reached the door to Kira's designated room. Pepper explained that it was exactly like everyone else's rooms and had it's own private bathroom. When she opened the door and Kira looked in, Kira cursed herself. Her eyes were watering again. She was an extremely private person and had lived her life trying to hide her emotions. It seemed malnutrition, exhaustion and trauma had shipped away at those walls she had built over the years and left her open and vulnerable.

Kira was quiet for a few moments, just taking it all in, before she cleared her throat.

"Thank you very much, Pepper." Pepper smiled and gave a nod in acknowledgement.

"You are very welcome. Now, I know you have to use the restroom. Do you want me to help you?" Kira's eyebrows shot up, and her traitorous cheeks started to turn pink. Kira couldn't wait until she was rested enough to at least control her embarrassment some. Seeing her wariness, Pepper offered a different solution. "Well, how about this. I'll wait out in the hall. You can go in there, and if you need my help, just tell Jarvis, and he'll let me know." Kira's brows pinched together.

"Jarvis?"

 _"Yes, Miss Kira."_ Jarvis politely waited for Kira to calm down, after she jumped upon hearing his voice. The woman stared at the ceiling with a mixture of suspicion, awe and curiosity. _"I am Mr. Stark's AI, or artificial intelligence. I can help you in a variety of ways. All you have to do is ask."_ Kira's lips quirked up.

"Thank you, Jarvis. I greatly appreciate your assistance."

 _"I am happy to supply it, Miss Kira."_ Pepper was a little surprised to hear 'genuine' happiness in Jarvis's voice. She had a feeling Jarvis liked Kira already. After a nod from the injured woman, Pepper left the room and closed the door.

Immediately, Kira slumped against her crutches.

" _Miss Kira, are you alright? Shall I call for Dr. Banner?"_ Kira straightened up a bit and started to move towards the bathroom.

"No, Jarvis. I am alright, simply tired. Thank you." It was strange to have so many people asking after her well being. It hadn't been a regular occurrence even before she had come to Earth, but best not to mention that. The last time Kira had thought to speak of her origins…needless to say, she still had nightmares.

Kira made it into the bathroom alright, but the rest was a bit tricky. It took her ten times longer than normal and completely wore her out, but she managed it without needing to have Jarvis call for Pepper. When she finally dragged herself out of the bathroom, Kira practically stumbled to the bed and sat down on it.

Jarvis must have told Pepper that Kira was finished (and didn't that make her feel like a child), because the next moment the door to her room opened and Pepper came in. The strawberry blonde gave her a soft smile and took the crutches from her.

"Why don't you take a nap for a while? I'll come get you for dinner." Kira nodded dumbly and allowed herself to be virtually tucked in. She barely heard the door close behind Pepper, before she was dragged down into unconsciousness.

* * *

"I don't think it's that strange. I mean, not everyone knows who we are." Tony shook his head at Steve's comment.

"But she has to come out of those tunnels to get food right? And there's some sort of crisis in the city every week. How could she not have seen us and or heard our names at least once?" Steve could only shrug. Natasha sat down on the couch next to Clint with a fresh bottle of water.

"Homeless people tend to be drifters, Stark. She probably hasn't been here that long, or hasn't bothered stopping to read a newspaper. I don't think it's that big of a deal." Tony wanted to keep pushing. There was something different about Kira that he just couldn't put his finger on.

"Okay. Next question: should we tell her about the Other Guy? I have him pretty well under control, but if something happens, I don't want her to have a panic attack or something." Pepper sat down and leaned into Tony's side, rubbing a hand over his shoulder to try and calm him a bit.

"You can explain it at dinner. If Kira really doesn't know about the Avengers, I think it best you all tell her the basics tonight." Tony turned his head and pecked Pepper on the cheek.

"How is our little house guest, by the way?" Pepper sighed.

"Exhausted beyond belief, but too anxious to show it. She's also a bit overwhelmed by the 'generosity and basic human kindness' we've already given her. Kira started to tear up when I just gave her a pair of my old sweatpants to wear. I put my foot down though, when she said she would eat in her room so as not to be a bother to anyone." Natasha didn't seem surprised at the information.

"In that case she's probably been homeless for a good while. I wouldn't be surprised if she does it again when we give her food. Kira's also probably afraid if she does anything to offend anyone, we'll throw her back out on the streets in her injured state or have her locked up. If we just treat her like anyone else, she should eventually get used to it." Clint leaned his head on Natasha's shoulder and looked up at her.

"But we're still keeping an eye on her right? You know, possible spy and all." Black Widow rolled her eyes and flicked Hawkeye's forehead.

"Duh." Steve narrowed his eyes at their childish behavior but said nothing. It wasn't like his Howling Commandos hadn't been the same way. Dr. Banner looked down at the watch on his wrist and pursed his lips.

"You know, as much as she's exhausted, I don't want her to sleep too long. It would be best if she was on a regular sleeping schedule. She should rest definitely, but Kira needs to get her body into normal patterns again. It will help her healing process a lot." The others agreed readily, though it didn't mean much. It wasn't like they were in charge of Kira's health. They would just leave it up to Bruce.

So, the next hour was spent squabbling over random things. Tony would have crept away to the lab, but Steve and Pepper forced him to stay put. If he left then, they wouldn't get him back for another two days. The SHIELD crew had sent over one of the rat cyborgs for him to play with, and his hands were itching to get started. However, if he stayed it meant he got to interact with Kira more which peaked his curiosity just above that of rat cyborgs. Tony should have Jarvis make a note on this date: the day Tony was more curious about a human than a machine.

After a while, Bruce asked Steve if he wanted to help him make dinner. The other Avengers (sans Tony's whine) insisted on having the same thing as Kira, at least for the first meal so she wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. When the two wandered off to the kitchen, Pepper stood.

"I'll go get Kira." Tony jumped onto his feet to walk beside her.

"I'm coming too." Pepper rolled her eyes but allowed it. She had warned Kira after all that Tony might…assist her in Kira's wake up call. By the time they made it to Kira's bedroom door, Tony was vibrating.

"Tony, calm down. She's not a puppy for you to keep." Tony nodded.

"I know! Besides, she's more of a cat than a dog." Pepper whacked his arm and then told him to be quiet. Slowly opening the door, Pepper peeked into the room. Jarvis had darkened the room considerably and drawn the curtains closed. Kira had, despite her exhaustion it seemed, moved from her original position into the fetal position, with the covers up to her ears. Even in her sleep she looked wary and frightened, and the poor woman was shivering.

"Jarvis, raise the temperature a few degrees, yeah," Tony insisted, rather incredulous that his AI hadn't already done so. Jarvis was considerate enough to answer in an equally hushed tone.

" _I already have, Sir. Miss Kira's surface and core temperatures are within normal range. I believe it to be more psychological than physical."_ Tony's brows pulled together, and he added another note to his list of questions to get answered, not ask necessarily, but get answered. He watched as Pepper moved forward towards the bed and laid a gentle hand on Kira's shoulder.

"Kira? It's time for dinner. I'll let you sleep more later." It was something Pepper usually said when she was waking up Tony to force him to eat after a three day binge in the lab. Except that involved louder voices and occasional slaps to the arm. Pepper and Tony both startled back when Kira jumped awake. The young woman pushed back and away from them, breathing heavily, before she recognized them.

She pushed her black hair from her face and looked chagrined.

"I- I apologize. You startled me. Nothing good has ever come from someone waking me." It was Pepper's turn to feel embarrassed for not thinking of that, even though it was not Kira's intention to make other woman feel in the wrong. Without another word, Kira slid from the bed and stood with the aid of her crutches.

They all left the room in silence, even Tony.

* * *

 **Aww! Jarvis and Kira/Loki bromance! ;)**

 **Please review:)**


	5. Chapter 5

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 5

 **I don't know how I managed it, but I somehow forgot how tiring college could be. It's only been a week...**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Dinner and Deep Discussions**

The distinct sound of crutches was coming down the hallway, and the others in the room (sans Bruce) frowned.

"I would have assumed Kira would be in a wheelchair right now, not crutches." Bruce could only shrug.

"When I suggested it, Kira was very averse to the idea and insisted on using crutches instead. I'm not sure what happened, but I get the feeling she had a bad experience with wheelchairs." Clint looked incredulous.

"I don't know how that works. I mean a wheelchair is a wheel- Umf!" Clint was swiftly silenced with an elbow to the gut, courtesy of Natasha. Kira, Pepper and Tony came around the corner, and their guest smiled at them warily. When no one moved, Steve came out of the kitchen and pulled out a chair for Kira to sit in. The young woman's eyebrows rose significantly, but she sat.

"Thank you- I'm afraid I don't know your name." Steve smiled warmly at Kira and pushed her chair closer to the table, setting her crutches within grabbing distance.

"My name is Steve Rogers, Ma'am, and like Tony is also known as Iron Man, I am also called Captain America." Kira nodded in acknowledgement and settled comfortably in the chair. Her emerald green eyes went to Natasha and Clint. The two assassins took the silent prompt. Natasha stood and offered her hand.

"Natasha, Black Widow." Clint stayed seated and waved.

"Clint, Hawkeye." Kira gave them a small smile but made a mental note to be careful around them. She was not a threat or 'spy' as they seemed to think, but they put her on edge. Natasha's eyes looked like they could skin her alive. Instead of focusing on this, however, Kira turned her attention to Dr. Banner.

"Can I assume you are known by another name as well, Dr. Banner?" The sudden tension in the room was not missed by Kira. Everyone had frozen and was looking at the doctor. Her brows furrowed close, and she looked around concerned. "I- I apologize for offending-" Bruce huffed out a laugh and continued his movements.

"You didn't offend me, Kira. _You_ can call me Bruce…..Other people tend to know me…as the Hulk." Kira looked slightly confused but accepted the name.

"Very well, Bruce. That is an interesting name. I can guess as to the origin of the others' aliases, but could you explain yours?" The tension that hadn't quite left the room was back full force. However, Tony did his best to diminish it. He plopped down into the seat next to Kira and leaned back.

"C'mon, Brucie. Tell her about Big Green." Kira didn't say a word. She only observed the interactions going on around her and tried to decipher the reasons behind the oppressive apprehension. Before Bruce could answer the oven dinged, and Steve pulled out freshly baked bread. It smelled heavenly, and Kira's mouth watered instantly. Seeing people stand to set the table and get drinks, Kira reached for her crutches.

"Kira, you don't have to get up. I can grab something for you. Would you like some water?" The young woman hesitatingly set her crutches aside.

"Yes, Pepper. Water would be lovely, thank you." Kira felt distinctly out of place as those around her moved in a well practiced dance. When Pepper brought her clean water in a glass, Kira wanted to hug her. When food was set on the table, Kira nearly cried. It was rather embarrassing, so Kira did her best to hide her reactions. Based on the expressions of everyone else, she wasn't doing a very good job. As Pepper sat next to her and helped her fill her bowl (a light soup and fresh bread were on the menu) Kira couldn't hold her tongue any longer.

"Thank you all, very much. I- I don't know how I can ever repay you for your kindness." Kira viciously wiped away the traitorous tear that trailed down her cheek, and she was even more grateful that no one mentioned it.

"You are very welcome, and I refuse to take any form of payment. Kira, enough thank you's. If I hear one more, I will sick Steve's puppy eyes on you, and you don't want that. Trust me." Stark's words and the subsequent look on Steve's face startled a bark of laughter out of Kira. The sound surprised her, as she hadn't heard it in a very long time.

Her green eyes then found Bruce, who seemed as tense as ever. Kira smiled reassuringly at the doctor.

"Do not feel obligated to answer, Bruce. If you're not comfortable, I don't want to press you." Bruce smiled gratefully at Kira but shook his head.

"No. You really should know, since you're going to be staying with us for a few weeks." Bruce set his spoon down and stared at the table for a few moments. "Kira, remember you asked me about the accident I mentioned?" The black-haired woman nodded. She had wondered if that had anything to do with it. "Well, I was a scientist researching gamma radiation for the military. One day, there was an accident in the lab, and I was exposed to it. I got transformed into this…this Hulk. The Other Guy is huge and beyond strong and dangerous. I turn into him when I get very angry and startled." Dr. Banner gave a self-deprecating smirk. "So, it'd probably be best if you don't suddenly attack me in the hallway."

Kira watched all of those around her with scrutinizing eyes. Obviously, the story was old to them, but they were watching to see her reactions. If they were expecting to find a terrified, little girl, they will be sorely disappointed.

"It appears that you have some serious control over this Hulk. Otherwise I doubt you would have survived more than five days in this Tower with Stark." Clint choked on his water with laughter, but Tony pouted.

"Hey!" Kira simply raised a brow at the inventor.

"You strike me as the type to 'poke the bear', so they say." That gained her chuckles all around, while Tony obviously tried to bite back a smile.

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Bruce admitted. Kira still did not understand why the doctor seemed apprehensive about his alter ego. The man did not look thrilled to be discussing it.

"If you don't mind my asking, Doctor, but…do you not like being the Hulk? I just don't understand. I know…a few people who would be thrilled with your ability." Kira didn't miss the way everyone tensed around her. She held her hands in a placating gesture. "Not that I would _want_ to find a way for them to be like you. They already lack the brain capacity and self-control to deal with their own, 'normal' anger." Shoulders unwound a bit, but Kira could still feel multiple eyes on her.

"I- the Hulk hurts people. He's destroyed entire towns before, hurt innocent people. When I was on the run from the military, they saw the Other Guy as a beast they could control, but _I_ could barely control him! How were they going to possibly-" Tony held a hand out.

"Whoa, Bruce. Going green, Man." Bruce took some calming breaths, and the olive tinge receded. Kira couldn't help but be fascinated by what she had just seen, but she kept that to her self. Dr. Banner looked up and met Kira's eyes.

"I can't even have a heated discussion without he possibility of me turning into a…a-"

"A monster?" While Kira's tone held notes of camaraderie, the others around the table didn't seem to catch them. Instead, the young woman was suddenly surrounded by loud protests and yelling and- _too much!_

"Hey!" Kira could feel Pepper's hand on her shoulder, but the woman was standing, glaring at everyone around the table. "Stop it, right now. You are acting like children and scaring Kira. If you would stop and listen, you would know she wasn't insulting Bruce." Pepper sat back down, and Kira took a peak around, seeing everyone duly chastised (sans Bruce, who just looked at Pepper in amusement). Kira clenched her fists in an effort to stop the shaking; Steve caught sight of it and looked away in shame.

"Kira, it's okay. They can be a bit overprotective and jump the gun sometimes. I have a feeling you weren't _calling_ me a monster," Bruce prompted. Kira forced herself to look the doctor square in the eye and nod. She was done being weak; she wouldn't be a frightened worm scared of loud, angry noises. She refused.

"Of course not, Dr. Banner," she started quietly. "Something in your eyes reminded me of…someone I knew. His situation wasn't the same, of course, but he had convinced himself that he was a monster, someone worth less than those around him. His family…well, he was raised with the belief that a certain group of people were savage brutes who thought of nothing but death and destruction." Kira huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "They were even used in bedtime stories to scare children." Kira focused her eyes back on Bruce. "Then one day, the father he had always been trying to make proud of him, announced that he was adopted…from this very same group of people he had been taught to fear and hate. He convinced himself that he was a monster, and as much as he hated his family and those that gave birth to him, he hated himself more."

The whole table was dead silent, listening to Kira's account. Something 'dinged' in the back of their minds, but they brushed it off. It definitely couldn't be the same thing. Suddenly, Clint whistled.

"Wow, that's messed up." Kira huffed.

"Yes, you could say that." Kira turned her eyes once more to Bruce. "Dr. Banner, my friend destroyed all he cared about and himself believing himself to be a monster not worth saving. I do not wish to see the same look in your eyes." Bruce was quiet, but sent Kira a small smile, one that managed to reassure Kira immensely. Dr. Banner was the one to break the awkward silence by clearing his throat.

"Thank you, Kira. Now, you should probably eat before the soup gets cold." Once the young woman had taken a few spoonfuls under the dutiful eyes of…well, everyone, Bruce continued. "I've drawn up a diet and rough schedule for you. I'm hoping it will get you back to a healthy weight, and eating regularly will definitely help in the healing process."

It was Kira's turn to be quiet, but everyone knew what she was thinking. 'What's the point if she's going to be back on the streets in a couple of weeks?'

What they didn't know, or what Pepper figured and everyone else hoped wasn't happening, was that Tony was already scheming ways that they would be able to keep Kira. He had already come up with ideas to find out her interests and what she's good at. Once he knew that, all he had to do was make a few phone calls, offer Kira to make her room permanent and voilà. To be honest, when he stopped to think about it, it scared him, how instantaneously he wanted someone. And not as a lover either!

There was just something about Kira that drew him in, like she could be his next Science Bro (since Dr. Foster can't deal with his style of humor). Bruce liked her too, so maybe it could work. Or Kira could become Pepper's assistant! Pepper liked her, and she works too much anyway. Who made her CEO?

Tony pulled himself out of his head long enough to really take a look at his house guest. In all honesty, Kira did not look good. She looked exhausted. Her skin was white as a sheet, making the purple moons under her eyes stand out. There was no hiding the pain she was in, winces and occasional hisses expressing how bad it was. Maybe the worst part for _Tony_ was seeing the way Kira hunched over and protected her food. She acted like she was expecting it all to be a joke, and one of them was going to reach across any second and steal it away. Neither of which was true, making it poke a little harder at Tony's non-existent heart.

In the end, Kira was only able to finish most of the soup and half of her bread. Bruce was happy to see that the young woman had paced herself and didn't eat too quickly or too much. The others at the table insisted that Kira not get up, when she made to help with the dishes. She looked decidedly uncomfortable not having a task, so Steve attempted to engage her in conversation.

"Well, Kira, can I ask how long you've been in New York City?" Kira gave a short nod.

"I've only been here a couple of months. Before that, I was farther west. I didn't pay much attention to the city names." Kira's body language was distinctly defensive. Her shoulders hunched further in, and she pulled her arms and legs closer to herself. Steve wasn't one to press, but he did observe, as did the others.

"Okay!" Tony clapped his hands and pulled the attention away from Kira. "Dishes are done. People, it's movie night. Into the lounge for battle!" Kira looked confused, but could only gather that their movie nights were…very intense. Bruce paused by her, to lend her assistance if needed, and they both followed the hyped archer and inventor towards a very promising evening.

* * *

 **Revealing a bit of yourself are you, Loki? Hmmm? ;)**

 **Please review:)**


	6. Chapter 6

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 6

 **So, you might have noticed the lack of update last week...I'm in college. It happens. Semester is picking up, so you can probably expect an update every other week now. Things are crazy, but fun...most of the time.**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Bigger Hearts**

Kira had fallen asleep in the middle of the second movie. She had curled up in the corner of one of the three large couches and set her crutches on the floor near her. Bruce claimed the spot next to her before Tony could, of only to save her from his obvious intent of prodding. Kira had only laughed at Tony's excessive pouting.

Steve won the first movie battle, and they sat through Finding Nemo. Clint swore he saw Steve tear up when the barracuda killed the mother and the rest of the eggs. Natasha won the next fight (Clint let her, because she screwed her foot into his kidney) and forced them to watch Eat, Pray, Love. Tony decided to keep his life and not comment.

When Kira fell asleep, everyone was shocked that Tony was considerate and actually shut up. He stopped giving commentary every five minutes and stayed quiet. Tony just shrugged off all of the strange looks he got.

"She needs to sleep," he uttered quietly. Natasha pinched Clint to stop him from reaching out to poke Stark 'to make sure he's real'. Pepper smiled at the inventor, kissed his cheek and curled up against him.

When the movie ended, everyone decided to call it an early night. It had been a long day, and they were ready to get some rest. Tony went around Bruce to wake Kira up. His science bro didn't allow him to sit next to her, so this way he would get to walk her back to her room. His fascination with Kira bothered Tony at times, seeing as he had only known her for a few hours.

Tony reached out and lightly tapped Kira on the shoulder.

"Kira? Kir-" The young woman startled awake, and the first thing she did was punch Tony square in the face. Tony stumbled back clutching his nose, eyes wide. Pepper rushed to his side, while the others jumped to their feet…not quite sure what to do. Two breaths later, they all saw Kira's eyes widen and the color drain from her face.

"Oh! I-I'm so sorry, T-Tony. I didn't mean to-" Tony scared her with a laugh and waved off her apology.

"It's fine. It's definitely not the first time I've been punched by a pretty woman. Kudos. That was a solid hit." Tony pulled his hand away and was satisfied to find no blood. "I should have known better than to wake you up like that, considering…" he trailed off as Kira and Pepper both understood he was referring to how Kira reacted the last time they woke her. Though she knew they understood, Kira still felt the urge to explain.

"I…it's just, if you are woken up by someone…in the areas I typically live, it's not usually for a good reason." Tony nodded.

"Right. So, conclusion: come up with a better way to wake you, that doesn't involve me getting punched." Kira's mouth opened and closed a few times, before she simply shook her head and let out a breath.

 _"Perhaps I can be of assistance with the situation, Sir."_ Tony smiled up at the ceiling.

"Good thinking, Jarvis. She can't punch you."

 _"Yes, Sir. My thoughts, exactly."_ Everyone in the room could hear the AI's eyes rolling. Kira bit her lip to keep from smiling at the sassy AI and reached for her crutches. Bruce stayed close to her side, so she wouldn't fall once she was on her feet, and then stepped back. Tony turned to the others and smiled.

"Well, Kiddies, bed time! I'll see you for some of Steve's pancakes in the morning!" Steve huffed at Tony volunteering him for breakfast duty, but in all honesty he didn't mind. The Captain liked cooking for his team; Tony was just a brat about it. He watched Bruce, Tony and Pepper walk Kira out of the room and couldn't help but be worried. Kira seemed like a sweet woman, but something about her seemed…disturbingly familiar.

For the time being, Rogers would just keep his eyes peeled. She more than likely wasn't a threat, but he had learned to never underestimate anyone.

* * *

Kira's sleep was restless the second time around. She was definitely exhausted, but it seemed the food and earlier nap had revitalized her brain enough for it to keep working long into the night. It was quite frustrating. She sighed heavily as she turned over onto her other side… _again!_ Suddenly,

 _"I know Dr. Banner wishes you to sleep regular hours, Miss Kira. Perhaps I can be of assistance."_ Kira looked up, surprised, at the ceiling and couldn't hold back a smile.

"That is very kind of you, Jarvis, but I am not certain I can shut my brain off enough to sleep." The AI was not to be deterred however.

 _"Mr. Stark experiences the same thing, and while his methods are not healthy by any stretch of the imagination, I can offer some alternatives."_ Kira stared at the shadowed wall across from her and sighed.

"At this point, it cannot do any harm." It took a few minutes for Jarvis to respond, but eventually a soft, soothing melody began to play. Kira had never heard it before and found herself intrigued, doubly so when a beautiful female voice began to sing. After only a couple of verses, Kira felt her eyelids finally begin to droop.

Before she gave in to the inevitable, however, she could not help but voice a question that had been running around her mind.

"Jarvis, can you tell me, are…are they sincere? Do they truly mean all they say?" She honestly did not expect an answer, and so was surprised when she received one.

 _"I may only be Artificial Intelligence, Miss Kira, but what I observe appears to me to be quite genuine."_ The corner of Kira's mouth twitched up in a smile, and she let the gentle music lull her to sleep.

 **Dream**

 _All she could do at that point was try not to scream, to not give the filthy monsters the satisfaction. They had forced her to change into her female form, because they thought she would be more likely to give them what they wanted._

 _They were going to be very disappointed. Kira looked around her, but there was no break in the sea of monsters. There was no way out. She was trapped._

 _Suddenly, the scene changed, and while she was no longer in the captivity of monsters, she was still being held against her will. They didn't believe her! They thought she was insane. They kept her in a drugged state where she could not fight back as they pushed her around the new white prison. They spoke gently to her, told her to take her meds and everything will be fine._

 _They didn't understand what would happen if she stayed there! The monsters were searching for her. They would find her. They would kill her!_

 _Kira was running down dark alleys, running from what, she still wasn't sure. Puddles splashed beneath her feet as she pushed harder and faster. She turned- and ran straight into a dead end. Her heart was pounding, and her fingers scraped and bled on the dirtied brick, trying to claw her way out. Then she felt its presence behind her._

 _Slowly, shaking, she turned around. She saw blood red. Bright flashes of lightening reflected off of a large hammer coming to bash in her skull. She screamed-_

 **End Dream**

Kira's eyes flew open, and her hands slapped over her mouth to keep the scream inside. Her chest ached with the power of her hearts hammering- and perhaps that is not the best thing to think about. She took a few moments to collect herself and calm her breathing. Finally, she sighed and turned over onto her back.

It was not the first time she had had that particular dream, well, nightmare to be more precise. Over the past two (three?) years, it had only gotten progressively worse. Kira had learned to live with the nightmares, but they still left a bitter taste in the back of her throat and a dark cloud forever looming in her mind.

Kira glanced over and noticed soft rays of light starting to peek through the curtains. She rubbed her hands over her face a few times and began to push herself up into a sitting position. There was no point in her going back to sleep, and she really needed to use the restroom. Kira did her business and came back out. Jarvis startled her.

 _"There are some clothes in the dresser drawers for you, Miss Kira, should you wish to change."_ Kira narrowed her eyes at the ceiling for scaring her, but headed across the room. There were indeed clothes in the drawers…way too many. It was rather overwhelming having so much to choose from, so Kira just grabbed the first shirt and sweatpants she saw.

It was a bit of a struggle, and she was worn out, but she managed on her own. Given the time- 6:38am- she didn't want Jarvis to have to wake up Pepper to help her. Kira quietly left her room and wandered toward the kitchen. She wanted to have a glass of water before whenever the next meal would be, and getting water wouldn't disturb anyone.

Kira came around the corner, expecting to find an empty kitchen, only to see Steve seated at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal. Before Kira could try and back out, Steve turned his head and spotted her. He sent her a bright smile and straightened in his seat.

"Good morning, Kira. How are you feeling?" Kira hesitated a moment before answering.

"I am grateful for the wonderful accommodations here." Steve stood, holding his bowl.

"Not what I meant. Why don't you sit down? I'll chop up some fresh fruit for you." Kira was wary to venture further into the room, but eventually caved under her exhaustion and the steadily growing pain from her leg. Once she was seated, Steve smiled over his shoulder at her. "So? Want to try again?" Kira sighed, but did as requested.

"I did not sleep very well last night. I could not stop thinking about…all of this," she gestured to the room and Tower in general. "It is all very…overwhelming. I _am_ grateful but…" She trailed off.

"It's not what you're used to? Yeah, I went through the same thing when I first moved in. I lived in a dive in Brooklyn for years, and then I went off to war. Just having a nice bed to sleep in threw me through a loop." Kira felt a great deal of relief that the Captain understood. She was afraid to appear ungrateful, but now she knew it was not just her. Steve settled a small bowl of cut up strawberries and apples in front of her, and she gave him a smile.

"Thank you. May I ask, what you are doing up so early? I assumed that no one else would be awake yet." Steve shrugged.

"I don't need as much sleep due to the super serum that makes me Captain America. I'm usually up, a ten mile run and two bowls of cereal into the morning before any of the others wake up and wander in for coffee." Kira chewed thoughtfully on some apple.

"So you…you were not born like…" she waved her hand to encompass the whole of Steve's body. The Captain's image and physique brought back painful memories for Kira, and it was hard to picture him as anything else. Cap wasn't surprised by her questions. Not only did he remember what Bruce and Tony were saying about Kira not knowing about the Avengers, but most had a hard time believing he was born not looking like a mountain. He barked out a laugh and shook his head.

"Oh no. I was about ninety pounds soaking wet, and everything under the sun made me sick. I wanted to be able to serve my country, but I kept getting turned down. Then…a scientist approached me, and offered me a way to be able to do that. Because of him, I _became_ Captain America." Kira's brows pulled together.

"So, you were finally accepted, once you looked the part of a soldier?" Steve shook his head.

"No. I went through boot camp before I got the serum, so the scientist could justify his choosing me for the experiment. I was…I was a good soldier, even if I was a scrawny shrimp. The same day I became like this, the scientist was killed, and then the general in charge refused to put me out in the field, saying I was just a lab rat. I had to force my way to the front lines and bring back hundreds of our soldiers from a prisoner of war camp single-handedly before I was finally allowed to fight." Steve looked up from the counter and was a little surprised to find Kira smiling at him. He raised his brow in question, and she answered.

"I know a few who people have been cast aside, because those in charge thought they were too weak of body. But they had bigger hearts and minds than the biggest of soldiers. I am glad that you were given the opportunity to show that to your general." Steve smiled back, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

* * *

 **Ha, just picturing a tiny female Loki punching Tony in the face makes me laugh. XD**

 **Please review:)**


	7. Chapter 7

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 7

 **Nothing. But. Tests! I'm officially brain-dead. But I took my frustrations out by writing. :) Good for you, not necessarily fun circumstances for me. :/**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Well, Isn't That Convenient?**

Surprisingly, Tony was the first one to eventually stumble into the kitchen. However, he just got himself a cup of coffee, mumbled something about more upgrades and disappeared down to his lab. Natasha, Pepper and Bruce came in about half an hour later looking considerably more put together than Tony had.

Bruce's eyebrows went up seeing Kira with a mostly empty bowl of fruit and Steve smiling sincerely rather than just politely. He shrugged it off though and went over to the fridge.

"Kira, are you feeling up for some scrambled eggs? I would like to get some easy protein into you if I can." Kira pursed her lips at the fruit still in the bowl. "I'm making them for myself too, so they wouldn't be going to waste." After that reassurance, Kira nodded. She and Steve continued their conversation on the study of arts versus science, much to the amusement of the others.

Halfway through Bruce making breakfast, Clint came in, still in his pajamas and wrapped around Bruce's back like an octopus. The archer mumbled something into the scientist's back that somewhat resembled 'Food?'. Though he couldn't see it, Dr. Banner rolled his eyes at Barton.

"Yes, Clint I am making food. Do you want some eggs as well? Cheese and peppers?" Kira could definitely hear the hum of happiness that Clint made, and bit her lip to keep from laughing. Clint eventually disentangled himself from Bruce and got himself a cup of coffee. He blearily walked over to the breakfast bar and placed himself in the seat next to Kira. Clint didn't start up a conversation with her, but it made Kira feel better, knowing the others were comfortable around her.

A minute later, Bruce set a small plate of scrambled eggs down in front of her. Clint pouted at her eggs, until a couple minutes later he had his own large plate of cheesy scrambled eggs. The archer seemed to come alive at that point and dug in with gusto. Kira slowly made her way through the all of the eggs, even though by the end she was convinced she would never eat again.

Eventually, all plates and food stuffs were cleared away and people went their separate ways. Clint and Natasha went to the gym to spar. Pepper had a meeting a Stark Industries that she couldn't miss, and Bruce went down to his own lab on the floor above Tony's (where he kept the experiments that could absolutely _not_ be poked). This left Steve and Kira on their own. Steve looked around and pursed his lips.

"Well, we could go downstairs and bother Tony." Kira was a bit surprised by the suggestion.

"But, wouldn't he _not_ like that?" Steve laughed and shook his head.

"Oh no. I do it all the time. He acts like it bugs him, but really he likes having someone down there asking him questions so he can feel extra smart. I also just hang out down there to make sure he eats regularly. Tony will go days without food or sleep if you let him." Kira's brows rose, but she found herself nodding and grabbing her crutches. "I'll just grab my sketchpad and meet you by the elevator." Steve indicated the direction to her then turned down the other hallway, back to his room.

Kira grabbed her crutches and made her way towards the elevator. By the time she limped her way over, Steve was back at her side. Kira maneuvered herself inside the elevator, and Steve hit the button for the bottom floor. The first thing Kira heard when the door opened once more was a loud, wall-shaking rhythm. She could feel it in her chest _inside_ the elevator. Steve sighed in what sounded like fond exasperation and walked by her side to some glass doors.

The Captain waved to a camera in the corner, and automatically, the doors opened and the sound (apparently it was music) lowered in volume significantly. Tony who had been welding something on one of his suits, whipped his head up.

"Jarvis! Why- Oh." The inventor spotted his visitors and flipped his mask up.

"Should have known it was you, Cap. But you brought the guest. Fun. Couch is where it always is. Make sure to get my better side this time, Rogers." Steve gestured for Kira to take the lead towards the couch and sat next to her once she was settled.

"May I ask what it is you are working on, Tony?" Stark gave Kira a bright smile.

"Why I am so glad you asked, Kira. I am working on developing-" Tony rambled for the next twenty or so minutes as he worked. The monologue soon dissolved into a discussion with Kira over different techniques and formulas. Steve simply sat back and observed, his pencil moving feverishly. He could see the fire in Tony's eyes and the growing spark in Kira's. The woman was smart and could easily hold up her end of the conversation with the genius. Maybe an hour later, Tony had completely turned his back on his work, his attention solely on Kira as they debated.

At one point, Tony motioned for Kira to follow him around the lab, but when she reached for her crutches, he changed his mind. Instead, he brought the inventions to her or had Jarvis bring up interactive holograms for him to show her. Steve was surprised. Tony was ever this considerate with Pepper and Bruce. Sure he cared about the rest of them, but he truly connected with those specific two. It was fascinating watching him transform for someone he had only just met about twenty-four hours ago.

None of them had been watching the time, and none of them noticed when the doors of the lab opened again. Bruce was able to walk up on all of them without any of them hearing him. He finally had to clear his throat to get their attention. Tony and Steve simply looked up and over at him, Kira however, nearly jumped out of her skin. She put a hand to her heart.

"Dr. Banner, you are a very quiet man. I might need to put a bell on you if you keep doing that." Tony and Bruce barked out a laugh, while Steve just smirked at Kira's sudden confidence around them.

"I'm not sure how much the Other Guy would appreciate that. Well, come on. It's lunch time. Kira needs to eat." Tony backed up to return to his work bench, but as Bruce turned he continued. "You too, Tony. You need to eat like a normal human being, regular meals." The inventor rolled his eyes, but easily conceded. He walked to the elevators with everyone else, all of them slowing down enough so Kira didn't exhaust herself.

Tony skipped up to be at Bruce's side.

"So, Brucie, it appears we have another Science Bro in our midst…or sister, I should say." Bruce looked over at Kira and raised his brows.

"Really? Is there a particular field you are interested in, Kira?" Kira smiled vaguely and shrugged as best she could walking with crutches.

"I find I like to study all aspects of the universe. There is not one I favor over the other." That raised many questions in the minds of Bruce, Tony and Steve, but they stayed quiet. Kira would tell them more when she was ready. They rode up to the common room floor in comfortable silence.

Clint and Natasha were already in the kitchen snacking on some fruit. Kira took a seat at the kitchen table this time, when directed by Dr. Banner. She had given up trying to get her own food and drink, for now.

Eventually everyone was seated at the table, even Tony, with food in front of them. Bruce had Kira eating some leftover soup and bread from the night before. She was able to get most of it down, which felt like a wonderful accomplishment. Everyone chatted comfortably around her, occasionally roping her into a discussion. It felt nice, nostalgic…and it made Kira burn for things she knew she would never have again.

And then the Tower exploded in noise.

Some sort of alarm rang throughout the Tower, loud enough to make Kira grit her teeth. The Avengers weren't startled however. They all dropped what they were doing and ran off, leaving Kira sitting at the table, confused and worried. She knocked herself out of her frozen state and grabbed her crutches. By the time she was standing and heading around the corner, the alarm had stopped and the others were rushing back.

Clint and Natasha rushed past her, but Steve stopped in all of his Star-Spangled glory.

"Kira, we need you to stay here. Someone's attacking Brooklyn and we're going to go stop them. Jarvis can keep you updated." Steve didn't wait for a reply; he took off after the others, and soon Kira was the only one left in the Tower. Anxiety and concern weighed down her chest, and Kira wished she had the ability to pace comfortably.

 _"Miss Kira, if you make your way down to Mr. Stark's lab, I will be able to show you everything as it happens."_ Kira was grateful for the AI's instruction and did as Jarvis suggested. Once there, Jarvis directed her to a wheeled chair in the far corner, with a wall of high tech monitors in front of it. Kira managed to get into the chair without rolling away and the screens came to life.

Jarvis also allowed her to listen in on the comms.

"Iron Man, do you have a visual?" Kira scanned the monitors until she found what she supposed to be 'Iron Man's' field of vision.

"That would be a negative, Cap. Whatever it is has smoked the area. I can't see a thing. Jarivs, heat sensors?" Kira's fingers itched. She would have done what this villain had done to confuse her enemies, but she could have easily taken it away if it was used against her.

 _"Two large heat signatures will impact your left in ten seconds, Sir."_

"Whoa!" Tony couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and Iron Man's camera showed the aforementioned impact. Kira winced at the loud crunch that resulted.

"Iron Man, do you copy!" Between flashing pulses and firing weapons, Kira caught glimpses of what looked like man-sized wasps. After a few grunts, Tony finally replied.

"Yeah, I copy, Cap. Hawkeye, what are you doing? Sleeping on the job?" The only reply Tony got was two arrows embedding themselves in a giant insect that had been sneaking up on Tony in the fog. "Damn. Anybody got Raid?" A loud roar vibrated over the speakers. "There he is! Wait, Hulk's not allergic to stinging things, is he? I know Bruce is but-"

"Iron Man, focus." There wasn't much time for conversation after that, as they were all, for lack of a better word, swarmed by the oversized wasps.

Kira's eyes bounced back and forth between screens, trying to keep watch on all of them. She finally saw the Hulk and found herself impressed more than anything. Dr. Banner's other half was more in control than he made it seem. When she was admiring Natasha's fighting style, something in one of the far screens caught her attention. It was video from the plane the Avengers used to get to the battle. Someone, Kira could only assume it was the creator of the wasps, was stealing into the craft and-

"Jarvis, tell them to get down!" Jarvis relayed her warning just in time, because the intruder get his hands on the weapons of the jet and started firing on the Avengers from behind. Kira watched helplessly as the Avengers were forced to seek shelter from their own jet and the wasp hordes were closing in. Her hands gripped the counter so hard, the edge dug into her palms. Kira glanced down for a moment and saw the keyboard in front of her and a barebones headset to her right.

She couldn't do magic, but she could do something else. The headset fit her like a glove and her fingers flew over the keys.

"Stay where you are. I'm going to try something." With the headset on, she was now speaking directly to the Avengers.

"Kira, what-" Kira didn't bother answering. She was focusing on the idiot in the jet who thought he could shoot the Avengers while their backs were turned. The man started to growl when the jet stopped cooperating. All of Kira's muscles were tense as she willed herself to gain control, and finally she succeeded. The villain tried to pull the trigger on the Captain and Black Widow, but nothing happened. Kira smirked.

"Let's go for a ride, shall we?" A few more keystrokes and the jet was in the air. The man inside the plane was yelling in confusion and frustration. Her brow went up at some of the creative curses coming out of his mouth. She directed the jet to fly towards the wasps, and then she opened fire.

"Alright," she heard Tony yell, and then the Avengers were back in business. Together they killed or drove off all of the monsters. Hulk seemed to take particular pleasure in throwing the wasps as far as he could. When the insects were officially neutralized, Kira set the jet down, the villain still trapped inside.

She waited for the Avengers to surround the door, weapons drawn, before she opened it to them. The man was easy to subdue, and continued his colorful cursing all the way into SHEILD's hands. Then, and only then, did Kira remove the headset and sit back. She stared at the screens in front of her, and though her hands were shaking, she smiled.

* * *

 **Yay! Kira/Loki being helpful! :) How do you think the Avengers are going to react? Let me know! :)**

 **Please review:)**


	8. Chapter 8

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 8

 **What's this?! A new chapter! Haven't seen one of those in a while! ;) This chapter is a DIRECT continuation of the last one. You might want to re-read chapter7 just in case.**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Motives and Suspicious Spies (Big Surprise)**

That was how Tony found her.

He and the others had shared concerned looks when the heard Kira over the comms. Honestly, they weren't sure what to do with this new information, and it put them all on edge. Now they knew they had someone in the Tower that could successfully hack into the Quinjet. What else could she do?

Tony flew into the bottom level of the Tower rather than using the top floor balcony as usual, and practically ran to the lab, once free of the suit. Jarvis was quiet the whole time, making Tony suspicious. He heard the elevator running and knew the others were already on their way down there. When he found Kira, she was still shaking.

"Soooo…" Tony started. "You managed to hack the Quinjet. Jarvis didn't do it; he would have told me. That's an _interesting_ skill….what else can you do?" Kira spun in her chair to face Tony, and she smiled at him.

"I am glad you are alright, Tony." At that point the others were in the lab, sans Bruce who was recovering from the Other Guy and getting dressed, and beginning to surround her. Kira smiled at the others, though she understood that they were now wary of her. Only the whites of her knuckles from gripping the arms of the chair showed how anxious she was of their reaction.

Steve stepped forward…and held out a hand.

"You saved us, Kira. Thank you." Kira's green eyes were wide in surprise, but she shook Captain America's hand.

"What were you doing down here in the first place," Natasha threw out. Steve stepped to the side of Kira to offer her support of the coming Inquisition.

 _"I directed Miss Kira to the lab, telling her I could show her everything as it happened. She did not pose I threat."_ Tony snorted and raised a brow at his AI's confident tone.

"When did you determine she wasn't a threat," Clint challenged Jarvis. The archer didn't seem too concerned, but you could never quite tell when Clint was actually being serious about a situation.

 _"I have observed her interactions with all of you. She has not lied, and she was genuinely concerned for your wellbeing. I determined it safe to allow her to continue on her chosen course of action."_ Tony narrowed his eyes at the ceiling.

"Multitasking while I'm out there saving NYC, Jarv? Not sure I appreciate the lack of concern."

 _"You are more than capable of keeping yourself alive for the thirty seconds it took me to run the calculations on Kira. And if not you had the others to help. Sir."_ Clint snorted at the condescending tone Jarvis had.

"Anyway, I think it's safe to say there was no bad intent behind what Kira did. She could actually be very helpful for some things," Cap interjected. Natasha held back and watched Kira's reactions to everything. She couldn't read anything deceitful in the other woman's face, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. So, easy to say Natasha wasn't going to stop keeping an eye on Kira.

That was when Bruce came downstairs. His brow's pulled together at seeing everyone surrounding Kira.

"Um, what's going on?" Tony smiled at Bruce.

"We wanted to know where Kira got her super-hacking skills, and Clint and Natasha were suspicious of her motives, even though she saved our asses." Banner snorted and shook his head.

"Yeah, okay. Jarvis filled me in. I'm not sure I see what the problem is. Well, Kira, how about we head upstairs and get something to eat?" Kira nodded stiffly and unclenched her hands from the chair arms. Steve passed Kira her crutches and held the chair still for her to stand up. It took her a minute, but she managed and was moving across the lab towards the elevators with Bruce. Steve followed, and Tony skipped up to walk beside her.

"Sooooo, still haven't told me where you learned to hack like that." Kira didn't meet Tony's eyes, which almost made him feel bad for asking.

"It…it is a very useful skill to have when one does not want to be found." After a moment, Kira raised her eyes and gave Tony a stern look. "Which will remain my own private information. I will be gone from this Tower in a moment should you even attempt to dig into my past." She stepped into the elevator beside Bruce and Tony hopped in before Steve could hit the floor button.

"You know that doesn't help your whole 'Not Suspicious or a Spy' image with the two assassins living here." Kira just shrugged.

"I am not a spy, which you can believe or not, but I also do not believe in divulging bad memories based on the suspicions of others." Steve gave Tony a look this time.

"Which is something we will respect." When Tony opened his mouth to make a snarky comment, Bruce joined the 'stare at Tony' club. The inventor raised his hands in surrender and shut his mouth for once. The elevator stopped at the desired floor, and the men waited for Kira to exit first. She took a seat at the breakfast bar this time and smiled at Steve as he passed her to go get changed. By the time he returned, Clint and Natasha were getting bottles of water out of the fridge.

The Captain caught the bottle Clint threw to him, and chugged half of it, before taking the seat next to Kira. They were all starting to unwind. That is of course when Fury's face popped up on the video chat.

 _"Sir, Director Fury is on the line."_ Tony rolled his eyes.

"Of course he is. Well, let's see what the pirate wants, shall we?" Clint snorted but dropped his smile as soon as the Director's real-time face showed up.

"So, who wants to tell me what the hell was going on with the Quinjet?" They had known this was coming, but it didn't stop Steve from wincing ever so slightly. The Captain even twisted more towards Kira to put more of a wall between her and Fury's angry expression….which of course brought her to Fury's attention.

"Why is there a civilian on this call?" No one wanted to answer, and Fury's face showed that he connected the stray dots. "So, you're the one who hacked the plane. I can only assume you are also the woman Stark brought home with him." Everyone was surprised (pleasantly so) when Kira did not quake with fear and back down, but instead raised a brow.

"I do not like being referred to as a stray dog, thank you." The corner of Fury's mouth twitched if you looked close enough.

"Well, in essence, you were one until you decided to hack into a highly secured system and drive swarms of monster wasps out of New York City all while imprisoning a mad man. So…want to tell me who you are?" The question was obviously a command, but Kira refused to be impressed. She had met men more intimidating, and as of yet, this one hadn't garnered her respect. With a sharp grin, actually showing teeth, she said,

"I'm a dog that bites." Tony actually barked out a laugh at that, and Kira heard Bruce and Clint snicker behind her. Fury narrowed his eye at the young woman, his expression saying he was fighting between being slightly amused or offended that she was talking to him that way.

"Well, aren't you hilarious. I need to know right now, if you are a threat to my team. I don't take those lightly. So, who are you and where did you learn to do what you did?" Kira, crossed her arms to hide the shaking in her hands. Now Fury was starting to remind her of her…of the only other leader with an eyepatch she knows.

"I am not a threat. I am just a homeless woman who lived on the streets until Stark found me injured in the attack before this one. I learned to hack to protect _myself_ not harm others. That is all I am going to tell you." Fury looked ready to argue the point, when Steve spoke up.

"Sir, she saved our lives. I think that garners her a little trust, don't you?" Fury fought not to scowl at America's Golden Boy. Something about the woman Stark had adopted bothered him. She fit into both his possible ally or possible enemy boxes. This woman struck a nerve in him that he couldn't identify. One look at Romanoff and he knew she felt the same. He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Very well," he finally said. "But no more surprises, or I'll be knocking on your door, personally." Tony snorted after Fury hung up on them.

"He likes you." Kira and the others raised a brow at the inventor. "Well, not like how he likes Natasha or…liked Coulson. More like how he likes me, in that I pay for and develop most of his toys." Kira rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to work for the man, Stark." Tony held up his hands.

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying he's more than likely making up a list of pros and cons right now, on whether to try and recruit you."

Kira saw Clint tilt his head in a gesture meaning 'More than likely' out of the corner of her eye. Kira turned back around in her chair, facing the breakfast bar and leaned on her forearms.

"Yes, well, I am not interested. I'd rather not get involved with anymore…suspicious characters." Before Stark could ask, Kira gave him a pointed look, and Clint laughed. Tony pouted and turned to the fridge to get himself a drink.

"Well, at least I have both of my eyes," he muttered. Bruce rolled his eyes and patted Tony's back in mock comfort.

"Yes, and they are very pretty eyes too, Tony." The whole room froze and stared as Kira suddenly let out a bark of laughter. Her hand came up and covered her mouth, her green eyes wide. There was a moment when no one moved, and then Kira started giggling and just couldn't stop. Soon everyone joined in, and even Natasha smiled.

It took a while, but eventually everyone calmed down. Everyone who hadn't done so already, left to shower and change, leaving Kira alone with Bruce in the kitchen. They were both happily snacking on fruit. At one point though, Kira felt the need to say something.

"Bruce, I hope I am not speaking out of turn, but I saw the 'Other Guy' fighting and I don't see the monster that you do." Bruce froze and didn't look up from his fruit. After a few moments of silence, Kira was going to apologize, but then Bruce spoke.

"You never saw him…before. He's hurt people, innocent people. Hell, he can destroy three whole cities and not get tired or care." Kira hesitated only a moment, before reaching out and laying a hand on Bruce's forearm.

"And yet, what I saw out there today was a scientist who had astounding control over a force most would envy or abuse. I saw someone who used that power to help people and _save_ lives." Bruce didn't say anything to that, so Kira added on. "What I also saw was a team that would be able to help you and get innocents out of your way should a moment like that ever come. You are in fantastic control, Bruce, but you have also got help should there come a time when you are not."

Dr. Banner did not look up from his fruit, but he did lay a hand over Kira's. He patted it three times, then pulled away, allowing her to pull her hand back. Kira smiled at the scientist even though he didn't look up to see it, and they both went back to their snacks.

Eventually the others returned, but at that point, any and all adrenaline Kira had been running on ran out. Tony and Steve both tried to engage her in conversation, but it felt like she couldn't possibly keep her eyes open. Finally, she decided it would be best for her to go back to her room and lay down. Unfortunately, _standing_ wasn't the best idea.

She had grabbed a hold of her crutches, but as soon as she put weight on her good leg, she keeled over to the side. Hands caught her (though she wasn't sure as to whose they were) and pulled her back against a strong chest.

"All of her adrenaline finally dropped out. We can just bring her back to her room, let her rest." Kira wanted to nod along to Bruce's words, but found herself too tired to do even that.

"I can go get the wheelchair and-" As soon as that word left Clint's mouth, Kira came to life as much as she could. An embarrassingly pitiful whine escaped her throat, and she squirmed back and away.

"Whoa. Yeah, okay. Never mind."

"Steve, maybe you should just carry her. It would probably be best, and you've done it before. I don't think she'd protest." Kira did not protest. In fact, she sunk further back into the Captain's chest and allowed him to scoop her up without complaint. It was a testament to how tired she truly was.

"Good ol' Steve. Taking care of the poor girls that swoon over him." Kira could barely snort at Tony's remark, but Steve did it for her.

"Tony, I don't think Kira's the type of _woman_ to swoon. Do you?" The corner of Kira's lip twitched up against Steve's shirt and then they were off at a sedate pace down the hall. She heard someone pick up her crutches, and then she faded away from consciousness. Lucky for Tony, Kira didn't hear him use her name and cuddly kitten in the same sentence.

* * *

 **Y'all hit the nail on the head with reactions. XD Great minds think alike I** **suppose, or I'm just predictable...or the characters are. Meh, whatever.**

 **Please review:)**


	9. Chapter 9

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 9

 **I just have to let this be known: I got a 101 on an Organic Chemistry Test! That just made my week. :) Hopefully this chapter will make yours.**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **It Started With Thunder...**

Natasha kept a close eye on Kira. While she was grateful for the save during the battle against the wasps, something about Kira was setting off the alarms in her head. Things didn't add up, and those stories she told Bruce seemed vaguely familiar in some way. But more than that, was the absolute certainty Natasha felt that Kira was hiding something; something more than whatever her "hacking derived missing past" was.

No, Tony's little guest was more than met the eye. What irritated Natasha was that she couldn't clearly decide whether it made Kira an ally or enemy. Until then, she had to treat her like an enemy in their midst.

The others returned from their field trip of dropping off Kira in her room. Natasha was not happy to see Steve's earlier suspicions had been washed away. She had thought the Captain had finally learned to not trust so quickly. Apparently, she had been wrong. All of the boys came back and settled in for a post battle movie. When they weren't looking, she slipped away down the hall they had just left.

Kira's room was easy to find, but not so easy to get in to. No matter what she tried, she couldn't get the door open. Finally, Natasha glared up at the ceiling.

"Jarvis," she hissed.

 _"I was instructed by Dr. Banner to ensure Miss Kira rests."_ Something in the tone of the AI made Natasha think that Jarvis was protecting Kira _from her._

"Jarvis, you know that I can walk in and out without waking Kira up. Why won't you let me in?" There was a pause, as if Jarvis was thinking about how to word his response.

 _"I have calculated that Miss Kira is no risk to Sir and his team, including you Miss Romanoff. I have been instructed to ensure Miss Kira rests."_ Natasha could see it was a losing battle and surrendered…for the time being.

* * *

Kira was not blind. Natasha was extremely suspicious of her, and in fact, had not taken her eyes off of her in the last (after a quick glance at a clock) forty-seven minutes. The others knew it was happening too, so Kira didn't have to worry about them thinking she was paranoid. Apparently, they were all starting to think maybe Natasha was heading that way.

It had been three weeks since the Battle of the Wasps, as Tony had dubbed it, and Kira had helped them on four other missions, all from the safety of the Tower. While Fury wasn't anything less than surly, she was beginning to think he was warming up to her. However, it seemed that one of his favorite agents wasn't. Kira wasn't mad at Natasha. In fact, she thought it was smart of the woman to keep an eye on the guest with a mysterious past and hacking skills.

Despite all of this, Kira still found it exceedingly _annoying_. Kira couldn't keep the huff as quiet as she wanted.

"Widow. Staring. Annoying! I'm not even your prey, and I'm getting irritated." Natasha glared at Tony, but Kira huffed in amusement this time, now knowing the spy's actions weren't just annoying to her. Kira however was not going to let others stand up for her.

"Stark put it rather bluntly, but I have to agree, Natasha. While I understand, and appreciate, the motives and care behind the staring, I find it arduous to ignore. At least make it less noticeable should you wish to continue." The assassin rolled her eyes, but did nod, which Kira took as progress.

"Great, now that that's settled, can we focus, people? Pizza toppings. C'mon." Of course Clint would care about the food more than his "assassin partner" being super suspicious of their pseudo-teammate. Steve, Tony and Bruce threw their opinions out there, while Kira only shrugged.

"I will be fine with whatever you get." Clint rolled his eyes.

"Right, so an extra of Bruce's nasty vegetable lover's pizzas. Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady. If I get anything else, I'll have to watch you desecrate all the good stuff by picking off all of the meat." Kira rolled her eyes at the nickname Clint had saddled her with. While she used to be called something similar when she was in trouble (or when someone wished to remind her of her lack of influence- _Know your place!)_ Clint said it in jest and smothered in fondness. It hadn't taken her long to win the archer over. She had just had to jokingly throw a knife and hit a bullseye once, and the man "took her under his wing." It was amusing to say the least.

"Don't call my pizza nasty, Clint." Bruce said this sternly and without looking up from the newspaper he was reading. The archer tensed for a moment, then scowled when he saw the doctor was messing with him. Tony snorted and patted Bruce's shoulder as he passed to sit beside Kira.

"So," Tony started as Clint wandered off to place the order. "Have you thought about my offer?" Kira rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Stark, while I understand that you are not what most would call a patient man, you only gave me the offer this morning. I need more than half a day to make such a big decision." The inventor huffed.

"It can't be that hard of a decision, Kira. Pepper became my assistant twenty seconds after I made her offer." Kira clenched her jaw. It wasn't that she did not want to take Tony up on his offer. In fact, it sounded wonderful, but…she could not help but consider the what if's. What if she found a way to leave? What if _any_ _one_ of the people looking for her, found her? What would they do to the people in this tower? She wasn't sure she could risk it.

"Well, as I'm sure you have noticed by now, I am not Miss Potts." Kira could practically feel Steve make a face from across the room.

"Isn't Pepper enough for you, Tony? Why do you want another assistant?" Tony was quick to shake his head.

"Oh no, I only need, and will only _ever_ need, Pepper. She is my rock, and my _CEO,_ not assistant. No, I offered to let Kira stay here, do research and experiments in her very own lab and, essentially stay a part of the team. So, basically what I offered Bruce." Said doctor finally looked up from his paper and smiled at Kira.

"If you don't mind my two cents, I think it sounds like a good idea." Kira opened her mouth to voice her concerns, but Steve cut her off.

"We all have a past, Kira, if that's what you're worried about. You've been a part of this team for a few weeks now, if unofficially. We help each other, and stand by one another. If anything ever comes up, you won't be alone. Besides, we can handle ourselves, despite what you might think of us over those screens of yours." Kira couldn't help but snort at that. Yes, she had had a number of comments for the Avengers as they fought any number of creatures. Sometimes, she wondered how they had managed to stay alive this long.

"I…I suppose then, that should others not be opposed, that I take you up on your offer, Mr. Stark." Her green eyes flicked to Natasha, but the assassin was no longer in the room.

"She probably went to go tell, Fury. Don't worry; he likes you. And if he starts arguing, Steve will just give him the Puppy Eyes of Freedom, and the pirate will cave." Steve looked affronted at that, but didn't comment. Clint walked back in the room then and stopped, looking at all of them.

"Wait, something happened while I was out of the room. What was it?"

"We unofficially, officially made Kira part of the team. She'll stay here and have her own lab, and it'll be fun." Clint considered for a moment, then shrugged.

"Okay. Better than the other things you guys do when I'm not around." So, the matter was settled and pizza was on it's way.

Steve got a call a couple minutes later, and judging by his slight grimace, it was Director Fury on the other end. By the time he got back, he was rubbing his ear like he had gotten reamed out, and the pizza was all laid out. Natasha held up a plate for him, already piled with meat laden slices.

"Here you go, Cap." Steve smiled at her, and then turned it on the rest of the team.

"Well, Fury wasn't happy that he wasn't a part of the decision process, but he finally gave in. Welcome to the Avengers, Kira." Tony and Clint cheered, and everyone toasted to their new member. Kira could not fight the blush that crawled up her cheeks.

"What are we all celebrating?" Pepper came around the corner and placed herself in Tony's lap.

"Hey, Babe. We're just celebrating Kira's official joining of the team." Her brows furrowed.

"Wait, that only just happened? I thought Kira's been an Avenger for weeks now." Tony made a 'so-so' gesture with his hand.

"Well, kind of. It was a little hazy with the pirate, but Steve-y just won him over for us. Now it's official official." Pepper nodded in understanding and stole a slice off of Tony's plate. Kira smiled at the scene around her and felt content.

After the hearty lunch (Kira was eating mostly normal proportions now), they all settled in for a lazy afternoon of movies. According to Tony, they had finished Star Wars, and now they had to educate Cap on Harry Potter.

"I read the books, Tony." The inventor waved his hands about.

"But you need the full experience! You need to be able to argue with other fans about which was better: the movies or the books." Steve rolled his eyes but let Stark continue with his plan. Kira settled on the couch next to Pepper and Tony. Bruce commandeered the love-seat with Steve ( _wink, wink_ , Tony, shut up), and Clint perched on the arm of the chair Natasha was curled up in.

They were soon all absorbed in the marathon, with occasional commentary thrown in. Well, Tony was actually watching Steve's reactions more than the films and snickering every so often.

"Wait, how's that possible? Peter Pettigrew is dead!" Steve's brows had been stuck together since the second movie had ended.

"Obviously he is not. The Map does not lie, and they only found a finger? Please, it would be so easy to simply cut off one of your own and disappear. Black was framed." Tony glared at Kira.

"Hey, spoilers! Keep your deductions to yourself." Just then the sky outside the Tower opened up and let loose a deluge. There was a collective sigh in the room. New York had been going through a really bad dry spell, and any rain was a relief. However, this time, it seemed to be more than a nice shower. This was a full thunderstorm. Kira's attention was dragged from the television screen, and she watched the sky warily.

She could not help but jump as the sky suddenly lit up with multiple bolts of lightening. Tony snorted beside her.

"What's the matter, scared of a little lightening?" Steve rolled his eyes, knowing that Tony was quoting him. Kira, however, just curled up tighter.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Natasha, Steve and Tony all stiffened. Their eyes were wide as they stared at Kira. No one else had been on that plan, how did she-?

Right on cue, thunder boomed loud enough to rattle the Tower and was immediately followed by more lightening. Kira flinched again and tucked her legs under herself as much as she could.

It was dark looking out the windows, and the rain was coming down in sheets. However, the next flash of lightening revealed something. There was a figure standing outside on Iron Man's landing pad. Kira's surprised gasp caught everyone's attention, and they turned to look. The God of Thunder stayed still for a moment before moving. His hair was plastered to his face, and the scowl accompanying it seemed out of place. Mjolnir swung threateningly in his grasp. He did not stop to say any form of greeting to his teammates, but went straight for Kira. All the color (what little of it there was) had drained out of Kira's face, and her hands shook.

" _Thor."_

* * *

 **Ladies and Gentlemen...let the angst begin.**

 **Please review:)**


	10. Chapter 10

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 10

 **Of course, now that I actually have some free time, each teacher assigns 3 projects and a major test in 2 weeks. My brain!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Don't mean to spoil anything, but Thor gets pretty violent and mean in this chapter (I'm leaning towards saying abusive). He won't always be like that but for this chapter he is.**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Who's Lying?**

Thor scowled harder upon hearing Kira say his name. His fist tightened around his hammer.

"Loki, you are to come with me now and face judgement." That got Pepper and the Avengers on their feet. Most looked indignant at Thor's accusation. Clint looked suspicious, but Natasha's face said she finally realized what had been bugging her the whole time. Kira ignored all of that and tried to push herself farther down into the couch.

"Thor! What the heck is wrong with you?! This is-"

"This is Loki, Lady Pepper. Do not let him deceive you. He has been known to occasionally take the form of a woman." Kira tensed as she watched the change in demeanor of her friends. They grew prepped for a fight and suspicious. Their eyes were no longer as warm. She couldn't focus on that for too long, however, as Thor started to advance on her. Kira's eyes were locked on Thor's hammer, waiting for the second it moved towards her. As Thor got closer she used her only weapon.

"W-well, it's not like I chose to be like this. I was forced to change this time. I-" Thor growled.

"Enough of your lies, Loki!" Kira looked to the others, praying to see some sort of support. Her heart cracked when she found none. All she received were eyes filled with betrayal and one pair with hatred. Kira was pulled from her thoughts by Thor's vice like grip on her wrist. The God of Thunder suddenly pulled her from the couch and she fell to the floor.

"Ah! Thor, please, wait! Stop-"

"No, Loki. I will not stop this time. You have deceived me too often." The pressure on Kira's wrist was getting painful, and she was losing circulation in her hand. She tried (futilely) to pull herself free. Thor ignored this and instead glared at the cast on her leg.

"What is this?" Thor _kicked_ her leg, causing her to cry out in pain. That got some protests from Steve, Bruce, Tony and Pepper. "Enough tricks and false sympathy. Change back, now!" Kira felt the tears of pain filling her eyes, and she glared up at her once-brother.

"I can't! That's what I was trying to tell you, Oaf! I'm stuck like this!" Thor dropped Mjolnir on the ground, cracking the marble, and yanked Kira off the ground, a hand squeezing each of her upper arms tightly.

"Have you not caused enough pain, Loki?! What do you hope to gain from this?! Tell me!" Thor shook her violently on the last statement, whipping her head back and forth. Kira could not help the whimper that escaped her. Her whole body was shaking. Her leg and arms throbbed in pain. For the first time in her life, Kira was genuinely scared of Thor.

"Thor! Stop it!"

"C'mon, Hammer Time. This is a bit much."

"Thor, just put her-him down. Let's talk and-" Thor's scowl deepened, though he kept it trained on Kira.

"No, Good Captain. I will not allow Loki to poison your minds any longer. I desire the truth from him." Thor's hands tightened again, forcing a cry from Kira.

"Thor, _please!_ " Thor bellowed in rage and frustration, dropped Kira onto her foot and grabbed ahold of your wrist again.

"I will make you speak the truth," he growled. Thor started dragging Kira out to the balcony, out to the storm, out to the edge of the building. Kira's eyes widened in fear. _He will kill me! Thor is going to throw me off the roof!_ Kira planted her foot as much as she was able and pulled on her arm. She scratched at Thor's hand, trying to get him to release his hold. Begging, pleading words fell from her lips that she was not consciously aware of. It seemed that final resistance was what completely snapped whatever 'patience' Thor had.

"Enough!" Thor gave one good yank on her arm- The resounding pop of Kira's shoulder was enough to make many of them wince. Kira cried out and dropped to the floor, tears now freely flowing down her cheeks. Thor had let go of her wrist in surprise, and she immediately pulled her arm as close to her body as she was able. Using her good leg and arm, she pushed and pulled herself until her back was against a wall.

As the Avengers looked at her, they didn't see an egomaniacal psychopath bent on taking over Earth. They saw a scared, abused young woman…for whom they had done nothing to help.

It seemed Thor was the first to snap out of his shock.

"Loki…I- why don't you just heal it with your magic?" Kira glared at the God of Thunder, and none of them saw malice or hatred…only severe hurt.

"I. _Can't_. I _can't_ change back. I _can't_ heal myself. I _don't_ have magic!" Thor seemed taken aback at the outburst, but took a step forward, face setting stern.

"Loki, we must be gone. Magic or no, it will be healed in but a moment if you let me-" Kira flinched back and would be embarrassed later at the cry of fear she let out.

"No! D-don't…don't touch me." Thor growled, but stopped when a strong hand clamped onto his shoulder. The God of Thunder looked down at Dr. Banner, his brows furrowing.

"Why don't you let me handle this, Thor? I think you've done enough." Thor could hear the reproach in the man's voice, but did not allow it to affect him. He was simply trying to do what was necessary. Perhaps he allowed his emotions to break his control on his strength, but Loki would be fine.

"Bruce, I don't think this is a good idea." Dr. Banner sighed, but continued slowly walking towards Kira.

"Natasha, I don't think Loki's going to try anything. Besides, he knows what happened last time he made me mad." Kira was confused at the words directed at her, but she did not comment. The Avengers spoke as if she had met them before in her male form, but…how was that possible? Bruce crouched in front of her, and Kira shied away from the closed off brown eyes.

"Look, this is going to hurt, but I need you to stay still. You know what, actually, Steve? I need you to help me." The Captain approached and didn't look Kira in the eyes. Kira's heart shattered at that moment. "Steve, I need you to hold his upper body down, while I put the shoulder back in." Kira allowed herself to be moved to a flat position on her back, but panic began to rise when Steve's large hands held her in place.

The Captain still wouldn't look at her. Kira bit her bottom lip, and a tear slipped out, as Bruce took gentle hold of her arm.

"Alright. On three. One, two-"

"Ah!" The doctor had pulled as hard as he could before she expected it, but at least her shoulder was back in the proper position. Steve's hands pulled off of her, as if he had been burned, and Kira rolled onto her other side, curling her knees to her chest. Tears rolled down her face, and she bit her lip to keep quiet. She cast her eyes to the ground, not wanting to see more hatred directed at her. Perhaps…perhaps Midgardians did not like magic wielders or those who can change gender? Or (more likely) Thor had told them about what she had done on Asgard, to the Frost Giants. They probably did not appreciate the Destroyer in one of their small villages either, even though it hadn't hurt any Midgardians.

"Loki, enough. We must leave now." Thor was much more subdued compared to his earlier rage. Kira's eyes slid to the God of Thunder, and she slowly pushed herself up onto her good arm. She flinched back when she felt hands on her again.

Steve's furrowed brow showed how conflicted he felt over everything, but in the end it didn't stop him from helping Kira sit up.

"Thor, how come Loki doesn't have magic?" Thor narrowed his eyes at the Captain and his brother.

"He obviously does, Captain. As you can tell, Loki looks like a female right now. He is just being _stubborn_ and refusing to change back." Thor bit out the last sentence, and Kira's good fist clenched tight. For all Thor terrified her with his strength, she felt a strong urge to punch him.

"Fine, but what about the healing? Wouldn't Loki heal his injuries? He's had this cast on for weeks, Thor. The bottom half of his leg was ripped to shreds and his achilles tendon was cut. Tony brought him here bleeding out. He wasn't healing." Thor's brows furrowed, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"That is…Loki was trying to get sympathy from you. He simply used his magic to _not_ let his wounds heal and compel you to save him. He is good at playing a damsel in distress in this form." Kira growled at that.

"How about you stop talking about Loki, like I'm not right here! And this isn't just a form, Thor. I'm still me, but my name is Kira." Thor rolled his eyes.

"Loki, I am not getting dragged into this argument again. Father cleared this up the first time-"

" _Your_ father just told me I was a disgrace after _you_ groped me in the corridor before I could tell you who I was! He told me to make sure no one saw me until I found a way to change back. I'm a shapeshifter, Thor. It's what I do. I'm me no matter what 'form' I take….and Mother named me Kira like this." Kira's eyes fell to the ground again, all of her anger draining and giving way to hurt and resignation once more.

"Why do I feel like we're in some weird alien episode of Glee without the singing," Tony muttered, before he promptly got elbowed in the stomach by Pepper.

"Why did she give you a new name? Why Kira?" Tony's eyebrows went up.

"Seriously, Steve? That's what you- Oompf!" Tony was going to have a bruised side by the end of the day. Despite the circumstances, Kira found herself blushing.

"It means…princess or little dark one. She said Loki did not suit me as this. That a 'beautiful young lady should have a beautiful name'." Kira tried to shrug it off like it was nothing, but the embarrassment at having confessed such a thing was rolling off of her in waves.

"How did we get on this topic, again? Wasn't Thor going to take Loki back to Asgard where he belongs? How'd he escape anyway?" Kira's nose scrunched up in confusion.

"I did not escape. Thor dropped me off the bridge." Thor's mouth fell open.

"Wha- Loki! That is not- You let go!" Thor saw his teammate's confused expressions and shook his head. "But that is besides the point. I am talking of your escape from your cell-"

"My cell? What in the Hel are you talking about? I was never-" Kira's mind brought flashes of the cells on the Chitauri world, and she shuddered. But…Thor wouldn't know about those…would he?

"Do not play with me, Loki! Your cell, on Asgard, where you were put after you attempted to take over Midgard." It was Kira's turn for her mouth to fall open.

"I- Have you truly lost whatever mind you had?! I have never attempted to take over Midgard!" Clint snorted from Natasha's side.

"Fine, maybe you as Kira didn't. But you as _Loki_ certainly did. Believe me. I know." Kira could see the conviction in the archer's eyes, and knew that at least he _believed_ he was telling the truth. Kira looked at each Avenger in turn, and none spoke against Clint.

"No…" Kira started out slowly. "I have _never_ tried to subjugate Midgard in _any_ form. I have been without magic since I got to this planet, and the last time I was here _I_ was a child. None of your great-grandparents even existed yet." Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"So you're saying that someone who looked exactly like you, _Loki-_ you, not Kira-you, and _said_ the exact same things as you did came to Earth six months ago and tried to invade with an army of aliens. What did you call them, Thor?"

"Chitauri." Steve felt Kira completely seize up under his hands and looked down with a mix of curiosity, concern and suspicion.

"Lo-Kira?" Kira's mouth fell open and closed a few times, before she spoke.

"I…I was not in this city six months ago. I can prove it to you, but…the Chitauri you say? They are who came with myself to attack Midgard?" Natasha's brows pulled together as she studied Kira. She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to believe Kira when she said it wasn't her that attacked Earth. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Kira was on the verge of a panic attack just from hearing the word 'Chitauri'.

"Aye. You're allies," Thor growled. Kira's face suddenly twisted into a violent rage.

"No! No! I would not help them! Never help them! Disgusting, vile monsters! No, no no no no. They wouldn't stop! I just wanted them to stop! Nononononono!" Kira began thrashing about in Steve's grip, yanking on her hair and shaking her head violently. It was all Steve could do to hold her still and not hurt her even more.

Unfortunately, Kira was creating a feedback loop for herself. The words brought up her memories, which made her thrash, which caused her shoulder and leg to throb in pain, bringing up more memories, which she tried to physically fight off, making everything worse. The arms around her suddenly felt like scaly claws, and the cries for her to calm down were ear bleeding screeches of monsters enjoying her pain.

All she wanted was for it to stop, for her to be able to be rid of them once and for all. Her only choice was darkness, and she fell into the oblivion as soon as she could.

The Avengers watched Kira completely lose it in Steve's arms, before eventually passing out, and falling back, limp against Steve's chest. Thor was in shock. He had never seen his brother behave in such a manner for a lie, but surely…surely it was one. He had fought Loki one on one on this very Tower. Surely he would have known if it was an impostor. The Golden Prince didn't know whether to be concerned or annoyed that Loki would go that far. Either way, when Loki woke up, Thor would get his answers.

"What. The Hell. Was that?"

* * *

 **I don't really like jerk-Thor but he works for this story. Don't worry! He'll get decent again eventually! :)**

 **Please review:)**


	11. Chapter 11

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 11

 **Pretty sure copy and paste is the extent of my technical abilities. Thank goodness that's all sound editing programs require for my projects. T.T**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **This chapter is dialogue heavy...and short. Sorry!**

 **Not a Tony/Loki story. Just friendship.**

 **Be forewarned, I have named female Loki, 'Kira', and that is what she will be referred to for a good chunk of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Proof**

"…Kira can't do magic! Why do you want to handcuff her to the bed?!"

"How about because that's _Loki_ and magic or no, he could still try to stab us with a scalpel?"

"My brother is vey good with knives."

"Yeah, you don't say. He also likes stabbing people in the back with them."

"Guys, I really don't think-"

"Cap, do _not_ tell me that you are starting to believe Loki, or what, feel _sorry_ for him?"

"But what about her shoulder?" Steve gestured to the swollen joint that looked like it really shouldn't be in the position the handcuffs forced it into.

"Not gonna happen, Cap."

Steve sighed and rubbed his temples, a headache brewing. Bruce and Tony appeared to be in the same boat. They were angry and felt betrayed, but at the same time were more willing to try and understand the situation rather than jumping to 'It's Loki. Ship him off.'

"Clint, I get that you're angry. We all are, but I want to understand what's going on first, before we just hand Kira over." Clint threw his hands up as Tony and Bruce nodded.

"We've had her in my Tower for weeks, and she's done nothing but be frightened and extremely helpful. If this were the Loki we knew, he wouldn't have been able to handle being around us for so long. Some sort of power trip would have reared it's head." Tony's eyes kept glancing over at Natasha. She had yet to say a word, but her body language spoke of an inner turmoil. Tony would say her past experience was telling her not to trust their 'guest', while what they had all witnessed spoke of another person entirely.

"Loki has been known to let his lies run for years. I do not doubt that he could handle a few weeks in your presence." Tony glared at Thor.

"Look, no _offense_ , Buddy, but I get the feeling that you really don't know your brother all that much. Everything you have been spouting to me sounds like you are reading the headlines from Asgardian tabloids." Pepper laid a hand on Tony's shoulder, trying to calm him. The inventor wouldn't actually punch Thor, but his mouth could lead to a brawl in the infirmary. The Golden Prince scowled and opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted.

"Why is Kira healing at a human rate, Thor?" Thor looked over at Bruce's quiet question. The doctor was at Kira's bedside, ensuring all of the equipment was working and immobilizing her shoulder. When Thor didn't answer right away, Bruce looked up. "Asgardians and Frost Giants, as you have told us, have naturally accelerated healing, where something like this would heal in a couple of hours. It has nothing to do with whether Loki- uh- Kira has magic or not. So, why is her achilles still in the earlier stages of healing, and why is her shoulder going to take weeks to heal?" Thor's mouth opened and closed a few times, before the man just growled.

"I thought I explained this to you already! Loki could use his magic to _slow_ his healing on purpose. If it is not that, then…then I do not know! But I do know that Loki must be lying! It is Loki." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Wow, that sounds like a completely infallible argument. It's Loki, so she's lying. So, if Kira woke up this minute and said she did attack Earth, would you say she was lying then?" Thor's scowl deepened.

" _No."_ Tony leaned back and threw his hands up.

"Oh! So Loki's only lying when you don't like what he has to say!"

" _Tony-"_

"Do not twist my words, Man of Iron! I will silence you if need be." Tony's eyes narrowed.

"Bring it on, Hammer Time." Thor stepped forward. Cap went to hold him back, while Bruce and Pepper grabbed Tony.

"Guys, stop!"

"As you wish, Stark."

 _"Gentlemen."_ Everyone stopped as Jarvis spoke for the first time in a while. If Tony didn't know any better, he would say the AI sounded like an exasperated parent. That was definitely _not_ in Jarvis's programming. Then again, neither was the sass. _"I believe I can help settle this matter."_ Thor and Tony unwound enough for the others to let them go, but they were relegated to other sides of the room. Natasha and Clint stayed in the middle.

"Wel, Jarv, what is it?"

" _I found footage from the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic that makes it quite clear that Miss Kira is not lying."_ Clint snorted.

"What? How the Hell does a psych hospital have anything to do with this? Besides, maybe Loki needs one." The archer was actually surprised when Natasha elbowed his side sharply. He thought she was on his side!

"Well, Jarv? Anything to exonerate our guest?" Without a verbal response, Jarvis turned on one of the large computer screens in the room (there was one inset in a wall in every room). The Avengers gathered around as a video began to play. It wasn't the best picture quality, but it was obviously a security feed at the hospital Jarvis had mentioned.

They watched as a burly nurse pushed a drugged up patient along the hallway in a wheelchair. At one point the patient tried to move about and managed to flip their head back. The face was without a doubt Kira's. The timestamp on the video put it at two days before the space portal opened over New York City.

"No way. That can't be Loki, that or he messed with it for you to find."

 _"I thoroughly examined the video and found no evidence of any kind of tampering, magical or otherwise. I can show you the thousands of other clips like this one, that span weeks both before and after the Battle of New York, if you should wish it."_ Pepper hid a smile at the AI's irritation with the archer. It seemed Jarvis was quite determined to defend Kira/Loki.

"Jarvis, what were you doing digging around the security footage of a psychiatric hospital based in Pittsburgh," Natasha questioned. Pepper had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing when the AI did not answer right away. Finally,

 _"I have facial recognition software that records whenever and whatever a listed 'Villain' is caught doing. When it was revealed that Miss Kira was in fact Loki of Asgard, her face was added to my search."_ Tony rolled his eyes.

"Smooth, Jarv. Just admit you've got a little crush on Kira and move on."

" _I was not programed to have 'crushes', Sir. You should know this."_ Before Tony could start bantering with his own invention, Bruce cut in.

"So, how long was Kira at this facility?" The video on the screen went away to be replaced with another, time-stamped at almost a year ago.

 _"Nearly eight months, Dr. Banner. It appears Miss Kira was placed and kept there against her will."_ Jarvis showed them the video of when Kira was dropped off. Two policemen brought in a struggling young woman who looked like she had just done a stint in a regular hospital after being tortured. Natasha, Clint and Steve all recognized the look of a prisoner of war. The cops handed her off to two large nurses, and a doctor jabbed a needle into her neck. Kira instantly fell slack into their arms, and they dropped her limp body in a wheelchair.

A couple more silent videos played showing Kira struggling against the thick cuffs keeping her in the wheelchair, of her pleading desperately with a nurse or doctor before she was once again drugged, of a nurse trying to take advantage of her and getting a bedpan to the face for his efforts. Most of the men had growled at the start of the last one, then smirked triumphantly when the disgusting man got knocked to the floor holding a bloody nose. Clint didn't want to be happy for Loki for anything, but he seethed a little less on the inside.

"Well, I guess that explains Kira's aversion to wheelchairs." Steve's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, but why was she put there in the first place?" Tony stared at the screen for a couple of seconds then started pacing.

"Okay, follow me on this." Everyone gave the inventor their attention. "So, Kira slash Loki says that she hasn't been on Earth since she was a child, which was centuries ago. The Destroyer thing doesn't count," Tony commented when Thor opened his mouth to interrupt. "Looking at the first video, I'd say when Loki fell from Asgard, he landed in a group of not so nice people. They somehow take away his magic and turn him into his female form. Let's not speculate as to why right now. _Kira_ escapes or is tossed down to Earth. She's been tortured for who knows how long and by whom, and she makes it to a hospital. When they ask her what happens, she makes the mistake of telling them the truth, so they cart her off to the Loony Bin."

"The Truth," Bruce questioned. Tony looked him dead in the eye and said,

"Aliens." A pause. "And two guesses as to who."

"The Chitauri," Natasha muttered. The room fell quiet as they rolled the theory around in their heads.

"It makes sense. Kira probably broke out of the hospital, and then made her way to New York. She's been living in the Tunnels so no one can find her and take her back."

"Okay, great. Fine, but how does any of this explain how Loki led an invading army of _Chitauri_ to New York City while Kira was handcuffed to a wheelchair in Pittsburg?" Bruce took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Thor looked deep in thought, as though he were trying to come up with an answer Tony wouldn't immediately shoot down. Natasha was the one to break the stretching silence.

"Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one." Clint narrowed his eyes at his fellow assassin, while the others looked at her curiously. The red-head lifted her head up. "Kira, and by default Loki, did not lead the Chitauri army here. Someone else did." Clint was fuming, but he didn't say anything, too mad to even scream. Thor looked close to throwing his hammer through a wall in frustration. Tony, meanwhile, was nodding.

"Someone, my money's on whoever took away Kira's magic, must have done some hocus pocus, and made us all _think_ it was Loki." Steve's brow furrowed.

"Like they manipulated all of our minds?" Tony shook his head.

"No, Cap. I'm talking an Impostor." Bruce sighed and pointed at Tony with his glasses.

"But why? What's the point? Loki was disgraced when he fell from Asgard. Thor was looking for him. If someone wanted to take over Earth, why impersonate Loki? It would attract attention, and possibly bring the whole force of Asgard down on their heads."

"Aye. The Allfather would have eventually sent his own reinforcements should I have not been enough assistance," Thor inputted. Tony bit his lip in thought. Suddenly, Pepper perked up next to him.

"Oh! No, it wouldn't actually." At everyone's confused looks, Pepper elaborated. "It wouldn't bring the full force of Asgard down on _their_ heads. It would bring it down on _Loki's_." There was a pause, and then the Avengers were a flurry of excitement.

"So you're saying-"

"Who would do such a thing to my brother!?"

"Oh, so now you believe it?"

"-Maybe this whole thing wasn't just about the Tesseract."

"This was about Loki!"

"Guys!"

"Okay, but who-"

"Thor, bud, start listing off all the people Loki pissed off."

"Stark-"

"No, you're right. Probably take to long."

"We can't seriously be considering this."

"Does this mean we can unhand cuff Kira?"

"Over my dead body, Cap."

"But we just established-"

"No, we didn't! Stark's just theorizing!"

"GUYS!" Finally the noise stopped. Everyone stared at Pepper and her irritated expression.

"Everyone needs to stop shouting. We can't know anything for sure until Kira wakes up, and we talk to her. Alright? So everyone calm down." The Avengers all took a breath and stepped back. A couple of them were getting uncomfortably close to a brawl.

 _"Well, Miss Potts, you shouldn't have to wait too much longer."_ All eyes went to the hospital bed. Kira's face pinched in what had to be pain, and she tried to lift her hands to her head. When they were stopped by the cuffs, her green eyes flew open.

"What-" Kira began viciously tugging at the restraints, despite the pain it caused her. She heard a loud buzz of voices, but her panic was overriding any sense she had. All her mind could focus on was _Escape Escape Run Run! Pain Coming!_ She felt hands touch her, and she flinched away with a scream.

 _Not again!_

* * *

 **Tony's about to punch Thor in the face...I think I am too :/**

 **Please review:)**


	12. Chapter 12

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 12

 **I just _love_ waking up at 2am with a fever before finals week. -_- Can it be break already?**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Again, dialogue heavy...and short. Sorry!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Jarvis Makes an Executive Decision**

The Avengers watched Kira slowly wake before the panic set in. They had waited for her to open her eyes, but as soon as Kira realized she was cuffed to the bed, she started to struggle like a cornered animal. Steve, Tony and Bruce rushed forward to calm her. Unfortunately, it appeared that their efforts were doing the exact opposite. Kira continued to scream and tear her wrists up as they tried to talk her down or hold her still.

Pepper and the assassins stayed back so as not to get in the way. Thor, on the other hand, had a different idea. He stepped forward and pushed Steve and Tony out of the way to get to Kira. The Golden Prince had a determined set to his jaw as he grabbed Kira's shoulders.

"Loki! Calm down!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Thor lifted his hand and smacked Kira right across the face. The room went dead silent.

The next moment, Thor's head snapped to the side as Steve's fist collided with the Thunderer's face. The look of utter shock and betrayal in Thor's eyes did nothing to quell the anger burning in Steve's chest. Tony, Bruce and Pepper looked like they wanted to take a crack at Thor as well. Clint looked pretty shocked at the turn of events. Natasha's brow raised in surprise, though she at least seemed to understand what Thor had intended.

"I was merely trying to calm Loki, Captain. Why do you attack me?"

"Thor, that was not the way to go about it," Bruce growled. Kira was completely silent and shaking violently on the bed. She had curled up as much as she could given her injured and restrained condition. Bruce's skin started to turn green as he saw the split lip and large bruise slowly blossoming across the entire side of Kira's face.

"Bruce, why don't you take a break, yeah?" Natasha spoke softly and stayed calm as she saw the Other Guy start to show. The doctor, however, looked between Thor and Kira, took a deep breath and shook his head. Natasha tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Alright then, why don't Thor and I go have a chat about appropriate use of strength, hm?" Thor was confused, but as his own eyes finally caught on to the reaction he had brought out in Dr. Banner he quickly agreed.

Once Thor was out of the room, Bruce turned a little less green, but he wasn't any less angry. That man just couldn't see how much he was hurting his own brother/sister!

"Kira, could you look at me, please?" The young woman on the bed continued to shake and curled up tighter when Bruce spoke. "Kira?" Bruce took a chance and pressed a gentle finger under Kira's chin to make her look up at him. Kira flinched away from the contact at first, but eventually lifted her eyes to meet Bruce's.

Tony and Steve growled at the now pronounced bruising on Kira's face.

"That son of a-"

"Language," Steve muttered. Tony couldn't help the incredulous snort and shook his head. Bruce's next words got their attention.

"Kira, I'm going to unlock the handcuffs now, alright? Just hold still."

"What?" Steve narrowed his eyes at the archer, who dared to protest the doctor's decision.

"The cuffs are coming off, Clint. And they will _stay_ off unless I say otherwise." Clint definitely wanted to argue that point, but surprisingly let it be…for now. Kira started at her hands as Steve carefully un-cuffed her. As soon as the man was done, she pulled her wrists close into to her body, wincing as the movement jarred her shoulder.

"Kira, I'm going to need to put your arm in a sling to stabilize and immobilize it so it can get better, okay? It won't hurt at all. I promise." As Bruce turned to grab a sling, Kira spoke for the first time.

"You did not hurt me," she mumbled. "You do not have to worry yourselves so much." Pepper did not hesitate to lay a gentle hand on Kira's uninjured shoulder.

"Kira, we care about you. We are not doing this out of some kind of misplaced guilt." A little fire sparked in Kira's eyes as she looked up at the Avengers around her.

"Yet as soon as you heard my other name I was scorned. I did not do anything to you! But as soon as _Thor_ says anything, he speaks only truth and every word I say is a lie." Steve sighed.

"Kira, we believe you now." Kira rolled her eyes and scooted up against the wall.

"Of course you do, because Thor could not control his own strength, _again._ Now you pity me. If only I could change back, I would not be such a despicable weakling." Tony scoffed in indignation.

"Hey! Despite what you might think, we don't just blindly believe everything Hammer Time spouts off. Besides, none of us think you're weak. We don't pity you. Saw what you did to the handsy nurse, by the way. Nice job with the bed pan." Kira froze at Tony's last words.

"You- what?" Tony seeing he had freaked Kira out, tried to placate her.

"Jarvis did some digging. He was trying to back you up with some physical evidence we could see to prove that it wasn't you that attacked Earth." Before Kira could ask anything else, Clint threw out his own question from the back of the room.

"So, why were you hiding?" Kira rolled her eyes and glared at the archer.

"Why do most people hide, Clint? I didn't want to be found by certain people." Clint stepped closer, a scowl in place.

"Oh yeah? Like who? Us? SHIELD? Asgard?" Steve saw Bruce turning green at the archer's harsh questioning and growled at Hawkeye.

" _Clint_."Neither Kira nor Clint listened to him.

"None of the above! I was…I was hiding from the Chitauri. If anything, I _wanted_ the Allfather to find me. I would have preferred a swift execution at his hands than the drawn out torture _they_ would have inflicted upon me." Clint looked triumphant.

"Ha! If you didn't invade Earth, than why would you have been executed by your dad?" Kira gave him such a look, a complete "are you an idiot" expression, that Tony barked out a laugh.

"First, the Allfather is _not_ my father, and second, I tried to destroy an entire race of people. Such an act typically warrants execution. Surely Thor told you?"

"Clint, that is _enough_." Steve used the tone that only rarely came out since World War II. The archer glared at his teammates, all wanting him to back off of Kira/Loki but did as he was asked. When Steve turned next to Kira, his tone softened significantly.

"Kira, why were you hiding from the Chitauri? What did they do to you?" Kira's eyes glazed over and all of her muscles tensed as she was suddenly thrust back into her terrible memories. Before they grew concerned over her prolonged silence, Kira blinked back to the present.

"I…I don't want to talk about it. Just…just know that, that I suffered great horrors. I never wish to see those monsters again." Before Steve could say that he understood or Clint could say 'I don't give a F***', yelling erupted in the hallway. It was obviously coming from Thor but Natasha had moved them far enough away from the door that they couldn't make out what the loud noises were supposed to mean.

The yelling stopped for a moment as if someone was responding at a much lower volume, and then footsteps could be heard coming to the infirmary. Three sets.

Tony rolled his eyes as Director Fury came into the room.

"Jarvis, security breach." The Director ignored Stark's comment as always and glared at Kira.

"Why isn't Loki handcuffed or, I don't know, _in a containment area?!_ " Steve narrowed his eyes at Fury, as Natasha and Thor came hurrying into the infirmary.

"She was hurt. Thor dislocated her shoulder. Besides, _Kira's_ not a threat."

"I don't give a damn what name he goes by. Loki tried to take over my planet. I thought his ass was in Asgard." Fury directed his glared over his shoulder at Thor, and the Crown Prince scowled back.

"Um, excuse me? Yes, hi, how did you know about this? It's not like Bird Brain or Widow had time to call you."

 _"I contacted him, Sir."_ Tony's eyebrows flew up so fast they knocked his head back to look at the ceiling.

"What?! Jarvis!" Kira could not help but be confused. Why would Jarvis act against Stark's wishes? Unless, the AI viewed Kira as a threat…but then why had Jarvis been helping her case against being the one to attack Earth?

 _"I thought it best Director Fury be_ in the Tower _to explain the situation, rather than over an insecure line. I certainly did not call the Director for him to arrest Miss Kira."_ It was Fury's turn to look at the ceiling, surprised, then he turned his suspicious gaze at Kir. The young woman was obviously injured. Pinched lips and lines around her eyes spoke of the pain and fear she was experiencing. Fury scowled inside; it all seemed genuine…but this was Loki!

The Director took a breath and tried to shove that thought out of his mind. He could tell his Avengers weren't under any mind control; Clint would have leveled them if that were the case. Nothing about their personalities seemed different, belying any form of coercion. If Fury could just look at Kira and forget about Loki, he could see himself believing the woman innocent. The problem was, he didn't want to believe it. That would cause him an even bigger headache.

Fury pinched the skin between his eyebrows and sighed, head bowed. He could already feel the deep throbbing inside his skull. Fury sighed loudly and, keeping his arms crossed, looked to Steve.

"I will set aside the _extreme_ skepticism for the moment. So, tell me how those injuries showed up." The Director clearly indicated Kira's bruised face and immobilized arm. The man was surprised at the severity of the glares aimed behind him. Fury turned his head to raise a brow at Thor. "Is this what Miss Romanoff was talking to you about in the hall?" Thor's eyes kept flicking to Kira's face, where the bruise had gotten significantly darker and more pronounced since he had been escorted from the room.

"Yes. I was informed that I was using too much strength when dealing with my brother. My teammates feel that I should control myself better." Fury looked back to Kira's face and his expressions shut off. Kira could not tell what the man was thinking.

"Yes…you should probably work on that." Kira was a bit surprised at Fury's words but didn't show it. Fury took advantage of having Kira's full attention at that moment. "Did you trick Stark into bringing you to this tower and then letting you stay?" The question seemed so out of left field that Kira's head pulled back and she blinked a few times, surprised. After a moment, she shook her head and scowled.

" _No_. In fact I wanted him to leave me alone. If anything, you could say _Stark_ took advantage of _me_ when I was injured and lightheaded from blood loss and pain." Fury raised a brow when the man in question snorted.

"It's kinda true." Fury rolled his eye.

"Of course it is. Fine. Then how do you explain that we have you, _Loki,_ on multiple cameras attacking Earth and killing our people?" Kira's fingers clenched into a fist on her good arm as she glared at the Director of SHIELD. She didn't want to tell the man that she had no answer for him. It didn't make any sense to _her_ either.

 _"Perhaps the simplest answer, Director Fury, is an impostor. I have found footage of Miss Kira being held against her will in Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pennsylvania for weeks leading up to and after the Battle of New York."_ Fury's face changed instantly, and he looked up sharply at the ceiling.

"Pennsylvania? You're sure?"

 _"Of course I'm sure,"_ Jarvis replied indignantly. Just to prove it, Jarvis once again pulled up the footage of Kira being drugged and pushed around in a wheelchair. However, Steve saw something in Fury's expression that made him suspicious.

"What happened in Pennsylvania?" Fury slid his eye over to the Captain and didn't answer right away. Everyone picked up his reluctance to give up information, and even Clint crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the Director.

"Sir?" Seeing even his top two agents pressuring him, Fury decided to give them enough to back off.

"We tracked something falling to Earth a few weeks before the Tesseract incident. Whatever it was landed in Pennsylvania. When our agents arrived, there was some wreckage but not bodies." Fury looked at Kira the whole time he spoke, as if trying to suck the information he wanted right out of her head with his eyes. Everyone else stood silently watching the battle of wills, tension climbing in the room as each second passed.

"I…I stole a small craft and just started going as far as I could away from them," Kira started. Her eyes glazed over a bit, but she quickly shook her head and focussed back on the present. She locked her green eyes on Fury. "I did not plan to land on Midgard. I just wanted to get away from the Chitauri. I ran out of fuel and drifted for I don't know how long, before I was pulled into this atmosphere. After that, I fell. I could not stay with the craft for fear that the Chitauri were pursuing me." Kira snorted then. "I made the mistake of confiding my tale to one of your Midgardian law officers. They assumed me crazy and…well," she waved her hand at the screen Jarvis still had up and let it speak for itself.

Silence settled over them for a minute or two, before Clint had to break it.

"Hate to break it to you, but none of this answers who attacked Earth. Fine, maybe I believe you, but _who_ was the Loki that shoved himself into my head and ordered me around like a puppet." Natasha walked over to stand beside Clint and offer her silent support. Hawkeye visibly relaxed just by having her near.

Kira completely froze when Clint finished.

"You- this person took over your mind?" Bruce's brows pinched together as the heart monitor sped up.

"Kira, Kira what is it?" The urgency in Bruce's tone was enough to make even Fury slightly concerned.

"By the Norns… _no_."

* * *

 **So nothing against the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. I just googled psych hospitals that I could use in this story.**

 **Thor's at it again! Oh geez.**

 **Please review:)**


	13. Chapter 13

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 13

 **Being on vacation has really helped me get my brain back in order. The wonders of sleep, I'm telling you.**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Again, dialogue heavy...and short. Sorry! Seem to be on a roll with those.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Stupid/Bad Thor (temporarily). Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **True Love's Kiss?**

"Loki, what do you know?" Kira looked to Thor, not bothering to correct him. The fear on her face shook the Golden Prince.

"I didn't know. I thought…I thought it wasn't real…just part of my nightmares." Thor and Kira locked eyes, and Thor couldn't deny that his brother looked scared, _truly_ scared.

"Does anyone want to share with the class," Fury growled. Kira's eyes flicked over to the Director and then landed on Clint, who was still glaring.

"Your mind was touched by one of the Infinity Stones. They are extremely powerful…and exceedingly dangerous in the wrong hands." Tony snorted.

"Well, I think we can say, this one was in the wrong hands." No one verbally responded to Stark, in the hopes that it would discourage him, but Thor did growl at the inventor.

"Loki, that is not possible. The Allfather-" Kira flipped the switch from scared to pissed in half a second.

"The Allfather is not as powerful or observant as you think, Thor! Stop acting like such a child." Kira did not miss the ever so small flicker of hurt in Thor's eyes when the words left her mouth. She knew that he had changed a lot due to his banishment to Midgard (though he has evidently backslid in the violence department) and wanted to be seen as a mature adult rather than the brattish child he was before. However, none of that changed the fact that Thor was dead set on believing the worst of Kira without stopping to think that he might be wrong…or that the Allfather might be wrong.

"Kira, who had the stone? SHIELD has your- or whoever it was's- scepter in lockdown, and Thor took the Tesseract back to Asgard." Kira did not look to the soldier but met Thor's eyes.

"You better hope the Allfather did not keep the Tesseract on Asgard, or that would be where Thanos would strike next." Thor visibly tensed at the name Kira uttered, and his eyes widened.

" _Thanos?_ Truly?" Thor spoke in such an terrified, breathy voice (as if someone was squeezing his rib cage as he talked) that the Avengers were immediately on edge. Kira ignored the sudden tension and gave a sharp nod.

"I only saw him once, when he came to personally try to _…persuade_ me help him. It seemed he did not trust that he would be able to keep his first choice under control and wished me to take his place. At least, that's what I grasped from underneath Thanos's words." Clint made a discontented noise and shook his head.

"That doesn't make sense. You refused to do it, so he makes the other person look exactly like you to get the mission done?" Kira was surprised when Natasha was the one who replied.

"Unless it wasn't Thanos's idea for the person to show up like that. Kira thinks Thanos might not have trusted this other person. Thanos probably felt that he didn't have complete control over them but could over Kira." Everyone seriously considered this, before Tony suddenly threw his hand up in the air. Kira's brows pinched together in confusion at the gesture, while Pepper just sighed.

"Yes, Tony? You have a question?" Tony smiled sweetly at Pepper and then addressed the rest of the room.

"I've been waiting for someone to ask, but seriously, why did Loki turn into Kira?! Kira said she was stuck like this." Kira narrowed her eyes at the inventor.

"I also said I was forced to change, if you remember." She didn't elaborate though they all waited for it. Finally Clint leaned forward, dramatically lifting his eyebrows.

"Well? You gonna explain why you were forced to change into a girl? I gotta admit: I'm not seeing the point."

"I think I'd like to know that as well," Fury drawled. Kira curled in on herself as well as she could and looked down at the blanket, mouth a hard line. Steve was about to tell her she didn't have to answer when Kira spoke.

"They got bored of my other screams," she said quietly. Bruce saw the way Kira's hands shook, but stopped himself from putting a hand on her shoulder. He didn't think she'd be open to the contact. Surprisingly, Kira continued. "It also seemed my reputation as the 'Mother of Monsters' proceeded me. They…they wished me to bear them fierce creatures for battle." Kira and a few of the Avengers looked like they were going to be sick. Clint and Natasha kept quiet, and even Tony held back from commenting.

"But," Pepper put a hand on Tony's shoulder as he tensed when Thor spoke. "You cannot procreate anymore, Loki. Father made certain of that." If Steve turned anymore green, he'd match Bruce, who was starting to count backwards in his head from ten. Kira, with a lone tear trailing down her cheek and a shaky voice, whipped her head to glare at Thor.

"Well obviously they weren't aware of that fact," she hissed. "If anything, they had their fun trying. Thanos…after I continually refused him, he told me that if I wouldn't fight for him, I would bear him someone who would." They could barely hear Kira's last few words as they trailed off, lost to her dark memories. Little did she know, but the female assassin in the room sympathized on a baser level with her.

"Is that…is that when you escaped," Bruce questioned once he had gotten his breathing under control. Kira pulled out of her emotional stupor and nodded. Her unbound hand came up and wiped a lone tear off of her cheek, and she cleared her throat.

"It was sheer dumb luck more than anything. It must have been the equivalent of night on that Norn-forsaken rock, because they only had one guard on shift. I…I was desperate and lured him into the cell with promise of…well, you know." Tony had to dig his fingernails into his palms to stop himself from lifting a hand to cover his mouth. His stomach churned as his own memories of captivity were brought to the surface. There had never been anything sexual, but…he would have done anything to get out of that cave if the Iron Man suit hadn't worked.

"Coinciding with their brutality, Chitauri aren't the brightest monsters out there, and this one was particularly dumb. He unbound my hand, for goodness sakes! I knocked him out, stole his weapon then creeped along in the shadows until I found an empty ship. None of them noticed until I had started the engine that I was escaping." The Avengers (and others) could fill in the rest for themselves.

"Soooo….how do we break the spell? Is it true love's kiss? Steve, pucker up." The Captain blushed a vibrant red and glared just like Tony knew he would, and Kira rolled her eyes.

"That is highly unlikely, Mr. Stark. I would need to know who cast it to know what spell they used." Bruce's eyes flashed with curiosity.

"You would be able to tell that kind of stuff just from knowing who the caster was?" Kira nodded, her lip twitching up for a second at the genuine interest the scientist was showing.

"Of course. The magic wielding community is not very large, and each caster tends to stick with certain spells. If I knew who it was, I could pinpoint which spell they used and how to reverse it." Thor nodded sharply as if completely agreeing and understanding what Kira was saying.

"It is someone who wishes you harm," Thor stated proudly. Kira rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. It was starting to give her a headache.

"Oh really? That narrows it down." The sarcasm dripped from her voice, and she was surprised that Thor actually seemed to pick up on it. The golden prince scowled at her.

"Loki, surely you can tell us who would seek this kind of revenge on you. You just _said_ that the magic community is not very large." Kira scowled right back at her brother.

"Well, it shouldn't surprise you that I am about as well liked in that community as I was in Asgard. I am the God of Mischief and I was a Prince of Asgard! Plenty of people wish me harm!"

"I will put you both in time out, if you don't knock it off," Fury shouted. The Director of SHIELD glared the two Asgardians into submission and sighed heavily. He looked at his watch.

"Now, I have an important meeting to go to with people that I do not like. No one leaves this Tower until I say so. You better have answers for me when I get back to you." With that last threat, Fury left the room, black coat whipping behind him dramatically.

"We might need to change his name to Snape." Pepper rubbed the headache from her temples and shook her head. The two Asgardians looked duly chastened; Fury gave each of them chilling images of the Allfather scolding them as children. Clint finally broke the awkward silence.

"Can't you just try every spell that it might be until it works?" The archer sounded weary. Then again, the day had gone from relatively calm and nice to a nightmare that dredged up hundreds of painful memories. He just wanted this to all be over; they all did.

"If I try the wrong one, I could very likely die." Clint snorted and shook his head. Kira could clearly see the 'Not sure that's a bad thing' floating around in the archer's thoughts.

"Wait a minute, Guys. How is this supposed to work? Kira doesn't have magic, remember?" Thor's face said he still didn't believe that, but none of them really cared what Thor thought of Kira at the moment.

"That will not be a problem. The reversal of spells requires a sacrifice, which is more ritual than magic. Magic is always a part of me; it is woven through my very core. I just cannot access it now. I am cut off from it. However, that will be enough to do what needs to be done. It was intended by the Norns that it would be harder to reverse a spell than to cast one, so as to force those gifted with magic to use it responsibly. If magic wielders carelessly threw about their power they would very quickly see the error of their ways, should they want to fix what they'd done. Though, not that it cares much to those who wanted to cause damage in the first place."

"A failsafe," Tony muttered to himself, his brain already running through hundreds of scenarios. "Okay, so what kind of sacrifice are we talking here?" It was Kira's turn to pinch the bridge of her nose and try to breathe away her growing headache.

"I. Don't. Know. I need to know who cast the spell. Then I can go from there." Clint threw up his arms.

"Well, how are we supposed to figure that out?! We thou- _think_ it was you!" Tony's eyebrows went up at the archer's slip of the tongue, but before he could comment, Pepper elbowed him and shook her head. Tony held his hands up in surrender and kept his mouth shut.

"We can still show her." Steve's words brought many eyebrows together in confusion.

"Cap-" Steve waved his hands about.

"Jarvis. Tony, you've got video of the person we fought. Jarvis can at least show them to Kira, and we can try going from there. It's all we've got." Tony threw his hands up.

"Whatever. Let's give it a shot. Jarvis."

 _"Pulling up the videos now, Sir."_ Kira sighed and leaned back into the one pillow on the bed. Exhaustion was burned onto her very bones, and all she wanted was to sleep. However, the was about the last thing she should have been doing at that moment. Bruce laid a hand on her shoulder, and Kira jolted to attention.

She had closed her eyes for a moment and was halfway to sleeping in the ten seconds it took for Jarvis to get everything set up.

"K, Jarv. Roll 'em." The AI did as bid and security footage began to play. Steve looked like he wanted to ask/scold Tony for having SHIELD recordings, but he held himself back. The Avengers had already seen all of the footage numerous times and instead focussed on Kira.

Said woman's eyes were wide as they took in what was on the screen. It was entirely surreal watching herself fly through the air and attack the Midgardians. The crazed look on her…his…whoever it was's face was unnerving. Kira allowed her eyes to flick over Thor. She could understand now, how he had been led to believe that this person hollering about insects and boots was her. The likeness was uncanny.

"This is….disturbing." Tony snorted at Kira's comment and nodded.

"Yeah, well…" he let himself trail off, as the footage continued to roll. There was a collective wincing in the room when Coulson was taken out. Kira's free hand went up to cover her mouth in a silent gasp. The line of the archer's shoulders was as rigid as stone. Kira clearly saw another reason why the archer would have such hatred for her, if he thought she was truly the person to do all of these things.

Despite watching closely, Kira was not seeing any indication that the person before her was not…herself. Honestly, it was starting to distress her, even make herself think she was mad. Maybe…maybe that really was her. Maybe she had somehow managed-

"Wait!" Jarvis stopped the video, understanding her outcry, but the others all jumped.

"Kira, what is it?" Kira ignored the Captain's questions and asked Jarvis to rewind the video of 'Loki' and Thor fighting on Stark's balcony and zoom in. The color drained from Kira's face as the video played again. She was up and bolting from the room before anyone could stop her.

* * *

 **Lots of questions, lots of panicking, lots of...cliffhangers? You love me, you know you do. ;)**

 **Please review:)**


	14. Chapter 14

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 14

 **Whoo! New chapter. Happy belated New Year and Merry late Christmas. Please be aware: I WILL BE IN EUROPE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS WITH NO WIFI. I WON'T BE UPDATING BUT I WILL BE WRITING. YOU CAN EXPECT UPDATES NEAR THE END OF JANUARY!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Again, dialogue heavy...and short. Sorry! Seem to be on a roll with those.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Words**

Kira barely registered the pain in her leg or the voices behind her calling her name. Her mind was racing with possibilities, none of them good. She made it to her room and slammed the door open.

Footsteps followed Kira as she raced to the connected bathroom. Her fingers scrabbled at the strap holding her sling in place.

"Whoa, Kira! You're going to hurt yourself. What are you doing?" Bruce reached out and tried to stop Kira from causing more damage to her shoulder.

"I-I need to see. I need to know." When it became clear that Kira was not going to stop, the doctor sighed and took over. He carefully removed the sling.

"Alright. Now what?" The others were crowded at the doorway, half spilling in and the other half pushed out, Thor's head peeking up above the rest from the back. Kira ignored them for the moment, and reached for the hem of her shirt.

"I need to see my back. I need to see what's there." Everyone, even Clint and Thor, were concerned at the spaced out and terrified quality to Kira's voice. Bruce conceded to help and was glad Kira wore a stretchy shirt, making the whole thing less likely to hurt her. He turned to Pepper.

"Can you grab me a hand held mirror, so Kira will be able to see?" Tony's girlfriend nodded and quickly pushed her way back through the group and out of the room. Bruce focussed back on his patient and covered her hands with his own to stop her from trying to lift her shirt.

"Kira, let me do that, alright? I want you to keep you arm and shoulder as still as possible. Is…is there anything in particular that I should be looking for?" Kira grimaced.

"Perhaps," she whispered, fear clogging her throat. Bruce nodded jerkily.

"Alright, well…turn around." Kira did as bid and, just as Pepper returned with a mirror, Dr. Banner pulled the material out and up from Kira's back. The tension fled from the room so fast, the Avengers nearly collapsed. "Kira…" The young woman tensed. "There's nothing on your back." _Nothing besides still being able to count your ribs,_ Bruce 's whole upper body curled forward, as she let out a relieved sigh.

"Dr. Banner, what are you saying? Can you not see them?" The tension was back in Kira's muscles in a millisecond.

"Thor?" Kira's voice was shaky as she called to her brother. "What..what is it?" Tony narrowed his eyes at the Asgardian prince.

"I think you need to get your eyes checked, Hammer Time. There's nothing there." Thor's eyes were locked on Kira's back and he slowly pushed his way forward into the bathroom. Bruce hesitantly stepped out of the way, but stayed close in case Thor hurt Kira again. However, that was not to be the case.

Thor gently laid his hands on Kira's shoulders to keep her shirt up and out of the way and stared down at her back. The doctor was shocked to see the Asgardian so rattled. Thor looked like he wanted to both rip someone's head off and wrap Kira in a hug, quite a 180 from even ten minutes ago. One of Thor's hands drifted down as if to touch whatever he was seeing.

"Thor?" Kira's voice broke Thor's trance, and the blond cleared his throat and shook his head.

"There- uh- there are words here…. _carved_ into your back." Thor's grip instinctively tightened on Kira's shoulder, but his hand flew off when he heard Kira whimper. "I- I am sorry." The other Avengers were…skeptical to say the least.

"You wanna fill us in on these 'magical' words that you're seeing and we're not, Point Break?" Pepper could tell that Tony was hoping for a reason to throw Thor out of the Tower, but she could see the sincerity in Thor's body language. The blond man was genuinely concerned for Kira, or was at least concerned about what he was seeing.

"You've said it yourself, Stark," came Kira's quiet voice. " _Magic_. Thor has some innate magic from wielding Mjolnir. It stands to reason…that if someone with magic did this, only those with magic can see it." Tony snorted and Steve's brows furrowed when he heard the inventor's muttered _"Well, screw that."_

"Jarvis, scan Kira's back for magical residue and anything else. I want to see what we are dealing with here." Thor rolled his eyes at Stark's blatant mistrust of him but let it be. He was feeling exceedingly generous after he saw his brother's back. It was like the lightbulb finally illuminated over his head. Thor was done making excuses.

 _"Of course, Sir. If Mr. Odinson would step back so I would have a clear view of Miss Kira's back…"_ Thor held up his hands in surrender and stepped aside next to Bruce. He watched as Kira trembled ever so slightly and curled protectively around her injured arm. It made shame curl even tighter in his gut knowing he was the one that had done that to her…caused her pain.

A happy sounding beep came, signaling that Jarvis was finished with his scans.

 _"Sir, scans confirm letters of some kind are carved into Miss Kira's back. The magical residue is also an identical match of the frequencies collected during the Battle of New York."_ Bruce nodded absently at the ceiling and moved back to Kira. He took ahold of the hem of her shirt and pulled it back down.

"Okay, I'm putting the sling back on and then you are going to sit down and _stay off of that leg._ " Kira's lips quirked at the well meaning scold, and she nodded. Once Bruce had the sling back in place, the doctor felt marginally better.

Suddenly, Kira was seeped off of her feet and cradled against a metal plated chest. She spat her black hair out of her mouth and gaped at her brother.

"Thor! What are you doing!?" The Asgardian ignored the similar calls from the others and gave Kira a small smile.

"Did you not hear, Dr. Banner? You are to stay off of your leg. Where do you wish for our further discussions to take place," he posed to Dr. Banner. Said doctor's jaw was on the floor and he needed a moment to pick it back up before he answered.

"Uh…we can…I guess just to the common room? There's really no need for Kira to go back to the infirmary at this point." Thor nodded and with his destination in mind, set off. Kira's good arm flew up to wrap around the blond's neck.

"Thor! This is uncalled for. Put me down!" Thor shook his head.

"No, Lok- I mean… _Kira_. Dr. Banner said you shouldn't stay on your feet and I have heard you have an aversion to the Midgardian wheel chair." Kira's mouth fell open, first at Thor actually calling her Kira and then again at the wheel chair comment. After a moment, Kira snapped her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"What is really going on? Your bumbling self went from dislocating my shoulder in anger and not believing a word I said to what…now you believe me? Why?" Thor didn't stop walking but his false cheer did slide away.

"Can I not…can I not feel guilt without you always analyzing it? I saw those words and…it was like all the proof I never wanted was staring me in the face. I _am_ sorry, L-Kira." Thor kept his voice down so they could have a semblance of privacy, as those closest to them undoubtedly heard it all. Kira was quiet for a few moments, before she slowly nodded.

"This is perhaps the most mature I have ever seen you act. Besides, this is certainly not the first time you've injured me," Kira snorted. At that though, Thor did stop walking. He looked down at Kira in shock and then hurt and shame.

"Loki!" Thor didn't even bother trying to be conscious of his brother's name choice. "An injury gained in sparring or fun is not the same as one drawn through anger. This was most shameful of me and you should not think of it as such. Family shouldn't hurt each other so." Thor stayed there staring down at Kira for a few moments before shaking his head and continuing on. "I never wanted to fight you," Thor said softly. This time Kira really was the only one to hear him, and she couldn't look him in the eyes. She simply tucked herself further against her brother's chest and let him carry her the rest of the way in silence.

The other Avengers walked behind them, their heads reeling from the complete 180 Thor had done and unsure how to proceed. Tony was all for holding a grudge, but Steve and Bruce had learned over the years more when to let things go. Not that Thor had actually really done anything to gain their trust back, but…this was a start.

They eventually reached the common room, and instead of setting Kira down in her own chair, Thor sat and kept Kira in his lap. Tony burst out laughing at their faces, and Pepper didn't even elbow him to scold the inventor.

Kira's face went from shocked to looking like she had just stepped in dog poo while barefoot. Thor looked like the cat who got the canary and wrapped Kira in a protective cage with his arms. Kira growled at the Prince.

"This is entirely undignified. Thor, I require my own seat. Let me go." Thor, predictably, didn't. Instead, he tightened his hold ever so slightly on Kira and settled her further back into his chest like she was an unhappy toddler.

"I feel better having you here. Just humor me. It's not as if we hadn't done this same thing for centuries." Kira scowled and tried to elbow him in the gut. She got nothing but a bruise for her trouble.

"A practice, I would like to point out, we _gave up_ centuries ago." Thor smiled at her attempts to get free and patted her on the head when she eventually gave up.

"I win." Kira scowled harder and whacked his hand away.

"You are such a child." Clint rolled his eyes noisily, and the others ignored him. Steve finally spoke up.

"Not that that wasn't…uh…cute to watch, but I think we've got some important things to discuss." Before he could continue, Tony brightened and popped up.

"Food! Hold it, Cap. Can't have important discussions like this without food. I don't know about the rest of you, but according to Pepper, devastatingly handsome geniuses need to eat three times a day, while the rest of you eat at least twenty. Besides, Kira's still on the good doctor's diet. Twenty seconds, pick a place, go!" Kira flinched when Thor bellowed his wishes for a meal and once again tried to push her way out of his hold.

Thor frowned down at Kira.

"Do I truly make you that uncomfortable?" Kira sighed heavily and looked at Thor with exasperation.

"Do _not_ use those pouting eyes on me. Thor, you cannot honestly expect me to be completely comfortable around you. You may be trying to forgive and forget the past few hours, but for obvious reasons, the consequences of your actions are still quite present for me." Kira looked pointedly at her immobilized arm. Thor's face fell further.

"Yes. I understand that…I just," Thor sighed and rested his head in Kira's black waves. "I am so, _so_ sorry, L-Kira." At this point the others were bickering and bantering just to give Thor and Kira some semblance of privacy.

Kira did not respond right away. She scratched idly at the corner of Thor's armor.

"Mother would have your head if she saw this," she finally said. It was Thor's turn to wince.

"No doubt. I know Heimdall will let slip to her eventually at least partially what happened. I…honestly cannot say what Father will think." Kira snorted bitterly.

"'The traitor must have given you trouble. What took you so long, my son? Was the abomination truly that hard to subdue?'" Kira spoke in a deep mocking tone. Thor was appalled at the cruelty of the words…and how he could not help but feel that his brother was not _that_ far from the truth.

"K-Kira…" Thor didn't know what to say to comfort her.

"Soooo, food will be here in t-minus fifteen minutes." Tony broke the moment, and eyed the two Asgardians. "Hammer Time, wanna fill us in on this whole 180 you did? Gotta say, you've given me whip lash." Thor's brows pulled together.

"I do not have a whip on my person, Man of Iron, but if you are referring to my rather…sudden change of feeling, it was due to seeing the words on Kira's back." Tony was not going to let the Crown Prince off the hook that easily, and the rest all stayed at the ready in case it blew up.

"So, what? You just believe her _now?_ None of the other evidence we showed convinced you?" Clint in the back raised his hand.

"Um, I'm still not convinced." Tony rolled his eyes and waved him off, not seeing Natasha pinch Clint's underarm. Thor answered as if the archer had not spoken.

"I…I had thought that I had truly lost my brother. Some of the things he said when I brought him back to Asgard were just…pure venom spewed from his mouth. It seemed his heart was completely gone. Then I saw Kira here, and I was so blinded by betrayal, I did not want to listen…because it would mean that I had hurt and despised my brother, when he had done no wrong. I could explain away all the other things, but after living with Loki for so long…I know what true magic looks like, dark magic too. Loki, no matter how powerful, could not have inflicted those own wounds on his back, and when I saw them…every excuse I had for my behavior and feelings no longer had any strength or foundation. Suddenly I saw the truth. Someone had hurt and used my baby brother, and I was fool enough to fall for it. I refuse to do so again." Thor's last words held a deep determination and fierce protectiveness. Kira would never admit that it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

* * *

 **Again, lots of dialogue, BUT! Thor's done benign stupid! Yay! :) See you in a few weeks! :)**

 **Bwahahaha! You still don't know who did it. You must wait. :)**

 **Please review:)**


	15. Chapter 15

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 15

 **Wow, I come back from Europe just to be buried under 2 feet of snow. :/ Well, it's good writing weather at least. I had an awesome time, but I'm glad to be back. :) Here's a shiny new chapter, just for you!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Pay close attention to this one guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **The Threat**

Thor's little speech didn't seem to completely convince Tony, but when the inventor saw how Kira relaxed into the blond's hold, he let it go…a little bit. He turned his head to comment to Pepper, when she suddenly stood.

"Damn. I'm sorry, but I've got to go. There's a conference in Italy tomorrow morning that I can't miss." She dropped a kiss to Tony's head.

"But Pep," Tony whined, "Fury says we're not allowed to leave." Pepper crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"You know full well that he was talking to you Avengers, not me. Tony, let go of my arm." The strawberry blonde finally managed to shake the inventor off with a little help from Bruce and said goodbye. Kira felt lighter when Pepper gave her a kind smile on her way out.

"Ah, yeah! Something we didn't get the chance to tell you, Point Break. Say hi to your new teammate." Tony gestured towards Kira, and a number of shocked noises sounded around the room.

"Truly?! How…how wonderful."

"You can't be serious! That doesn't count!"

"You mean you still want me?" Kira's jaw had dropped, and she looked around at the other team members. Tony, Bruce and Steve were smiling at her, while Clint looked just as outraged as his tone suggested. Natasha tugged the archer back down into his seat without taking her eyes off of Kira.

"You gotta admit, boys, the situation was missing a few key details when that decision was made." The arms around Kira tightened protectively.

"It matters not! You know that Kira is my brother now, and the Man of Iron has proven that he did not attack your city." Thor was surprising Kira with his defensiveness, but then again, her brother had always stuck by his friends fiercely when he truly believed them to be good or in the right.

"But as of right now, we're the only ones who know that." Natasha put a hand over Clint's mouth and muttered to him in Russian. Hawkeye's brows lifted for a moment, before dropping back down. The archer slumped back in his seat, crossed his arms and shook his head in defeat. Natasha moved her hand to his knee, but again kept her attention in the conversation. "As far as anyone else is concerned, Loki was the one to lead the invasion. Video and pictures of him have been circulating for months now. We can't just go outside and say, 'We've forgiven the person who you all think destroyed this city and killed a bunch of people. He didn't do it.' No one's going to accept that and then the whole Avengers Initiative is going to be a target for attack from the people we are trying to protect." Thor didn't want to accept what Natasha was saying, though Kira understood the assassin perfectly.

"Well, explain! Show them the evidence that it was not Loki." The Russian shook her head.

"The whole event is too wrapped up in emotions and Loki has been villain-ized for too long. They'll just…refuse to believe. They won't want to believe it, because they saw _him_." She pointed to Kira. "And that's what they are going to believe." Thor's fight drained out of him but his grip on Kira did not lessen. The blond prince sighed.

"Uh, Natasha? I think you're forgetting something." Everyone looked at Bruce. Tony's eyebrows were in his hair and his mouth was twisted in an excited grin. Bruce was challenging Black Widow! No one does that! Bruce took off his glasses and gestured to Kira. "Kira's been helping us for weeks, and no one has known. Why can't we, at least until we find a way to get them to accept Loki, keep Kira on?" Steve nodded in agreement, while Tony whooped. Natasha tilted her head and smiled at the doctor, making the man fluster and look away. Thor gave Kira a very gentle excited shake, while the woman rolled her eyes.

Clint grumbled.

"Great. Fantastic. Now can we please get some answers about-"

 _"Sir, the food has been delivered and is coming up in the elevator now."_

"Ha ha," Tony cheered. Bruce rolled his eyes, but followed the inventor over to the kitchen. Steve threw his hands up.

"Why don't we move this discussion to the dining table?" Clint sighed, quite put upon, but followed Natasha out. Kira turned her head enough to glare at Thor.

"You are not carrying me to the table." Thor opened his mouth to protest. "I will let you _help_ me, but that is it." Her brother's mouth settled into a pleased smile and he nodded.

"Then help you I shall." He allowed Kira to slide off of his lap and stand on her good foot, before he stood and bent a bit to slip an arm around her waist. Kira hesitantly wrapped her one arm around Thor's chest and then nodded.

"Well then, let's go." It was slow going, but Thor was an effective crutch, and they made it in time for the food bags to finish being emptied onto the table. Thor pulled a chair out for her, and Kira happily plopped down. Her brother claimed the seat next to her and quickly began piling food onto _her_ plate.

"Thor! What are you doing? I don't eat a Bilgesnipe at every meal like you do." Thor snorted and kept scooping until Kira had a small mountain on her plate and Tony started to complain about them running out of orange chicken.

"You are practically skin and bone. You are lucky Mother is not here. She would make you eat two plates this full." Kira rolled her eyes, but picked up her fork without another complaint. Eventually, everyone had what they wanted and began eating. After shoveling another mouthful of fried rice in, Clint spoke.

"So, we've got our food. Can we have the discussion _now?"_ Tony opened his mouth to snark, but Steve cut him a look.

"We've postponed this long enough, Tony. Kira." The young woman suddenly was not hungry anymore and swallowed the now thick lump in her mouth. It settled deep in her gut as she sat back and organized her thoughts. When she spoke, her voice was as neutral as she could make it.

"When Jarvis showed me the footage of the fight between Thor and the impostor, I recognized the fighting style." Kira gave Thor a sideways look. "I never would have turned my back on you to take out the Quinjet. I would have just erected a shield and dealt with them later." The young woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "As seems to be the theme lately, I did not want to believe that I was correct, and the only way to confirm my suspicions was to look for the spell." Kira reached back and touched the top of her shoulder blade where the words started. She zoned out for a bit, but a question from Bruce brought her back.

"What does the spell do?" Kira blinked back into the present and put her hand back on the table.

"I need to know the exact wording he used, but my guess would be that it transferred enough of my power to him to allow him to imitate me near perfectly. With enough of my own magical signature, he would be able to trick Heimdall's magic into locking onto him instead of me. The spell must have also trapped the rest of my magic inside of me where I can't access it."

"Great. Now we know, but _who did it_ ," Clint pressed. Kira closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would not do to stab the archer in the hand with her fork. She opened her eyes once she was certain she wouldn't commit any violent act against his person and stared him down.

"His name is Calder." Thor's brows furrowed together.

"I have heard that name before. Was he not a friend of yours?" Kira gave a so-so motion with her hand.

"Calder and I bonded over our common dislike of you and our use of magic. I was more skilled and more powerful. Where I had finesse and control with my power, Calder's simply burst forth with no direction. I taught him some, but most of our time was spent complaining about you and the way we were treated due to our preference of magic and tact over large weapons and brute strength." Kira couldn't help but feel some shame in admitting her past actions. Perhaps if she hadn't acted like a jealous brat…the suffering of many could have been avoided.

"Obviously that didn't last." Kira snorted at Stark's statement of the obvious.

"You would be correct. Calder started to change. When he started to gain more confidence through my lessons he began spinning fantasies of grandeur, but it wasn't just that. When I told him how I was practicing to become a shape shifter and that I would start with simply changing my gender, he began making unnerving comments. He would say things such as, 'If you were a woman, I wouldn't let any man touch you.' 'When the Allfather realizes how unworthy Thor is of the throne, surely he will appoint you as Queen of Asgard. I could rule by your side.' At first I thought it all in jest…but then he started acting like a jealous lover, especially after I had successfully conquered the transformation. The last straw was when he accused me of 'cheating on him like a whore' with my personal servant and then attacked him. My servant was barely into his teenage years, but Calder broke the boy's arm." Kira shuddered at the memory of her once friend spitting such venom at her as Loki and then attacking the poor boy. Loki had healed the servant as soon as he had thrown Calder out, and the boy was attached to his hip for months after.

"This guy did all of this-coming to Earth, trying to steal the Tesseract, invading with the Chitauri-because you…what? Rejected him?" Natasha sounded incredulous, but Kira nodded.

"In part, but that was not all that happened. It became quite clear to me that Calder was unstable. I had cut off all ties with him, but one night I was leaving the library quite late, when I heard someone skulking about in one of the darkened corners. I kept hidden and listened. I heard Calder plotting to kill Thor, take the throne and…and prove to me that he would be a suitable partner for myself." Kira's face pinched in disgust as did many of the others' present. Thor had thrown an arm over Kira's shoulders as if he could protect her from actions long past.

Kira turned her head and said the next part directly to Thor.

"The next day you were off on a hunt with your Merry Band and I went to the Allfather. He was in a meeting with the High Council. I accused Calder of treason. When the Allfather ordered him to be brought before him, Calder looked utterly betrayed; then it turned to rage. He claimed I was making it up so that I could get rid of the only sorcerer who could defeat me." Kira rolled her eyes and Tony snorted.

"They didn't actually believe that, did they," Steve asked. Kira's lips pinched together.

"The High Council stated that they had to investigate every claim brought before them, and insisted that Calder and I must duel each other to determine the truth. I am of the strong opinion that they were hoping to remove two birds with one stone. If I killed Calder in the duel, they could charge me with murder and vice versa. The Allfather didn't say a word. He just sat there." Kira's hands clenched into fists.

Thor reached over and gently pried her good fist open and smoothed out her fingers. Her nails hadn't broken the skin, but it had been close.

 **"** You're both still alive. So, what happened," Bruce prompted. Kira shrugged nonchalantly.

"We dueled. Calder was throwing out his power, fueled by rage, but he had clearly lost any sense of control and directionality. His magic nearly killed two Councilmen, not that I cared too much about that. Though he began explosively, Calder did not have the stamina or power level to maintain such an assault. I took advantage of his rather sudden exhaustion, having saved my energy by staying on the defensive. Instead of killing him like the Council hoped for, I knocked him off his feet and bound him with magical ropes. When he began yelling and cursing, I put him to sleep. The High Council wasn't happy and began accusing me of cheating and using trickery. I looked to the Allfather for help, but…he just stared at me." Kira could feel a burning pressure building in her eyes, but angrily pushed it back.

"When the Councilmen ordered the guards to arrest me, he finally spoke up. He told them to stand down. Odin told me to wake Calder from the spell after ordering the guards to gag him. The Allfather proceeded to condemn him to exile. Should he ever return to Asgard he would be executed on the spot. The entire time he was being sentenced, Calder didn't look at the Allfather. He stared at _me_ ; even when the guards hauled him up and away, he wouldn't stop." Kira's voice trailed off at the end, eyes glazed as she remembered that day.

"So they exiled him, but didn't keep an eye on him. That always ends well," Clint muttered. Thor's arm tightened around Kira, before he gave in to his feelings and pulled Kira back onto his lap. Kira grumbled but didn't fight him on it.

"This…Calder must have met up with Thanos during his exile. He might not have originally been planning on using that mission to target you, but once you fell onto the Chitauri planet, he saw the perfect opportunity for revenge."

"He's going to come back, isn't he? Knowing our luck." Clint sighed and leaned back, rubbing his hands over his face aggressively. Cap nodded sharply.

"Since he's escaped from Asgard's prison, though still as Loki, he will probably come here once he's fully recuperated. So, we need to be ready." Steve gave Kira a pointed look, and she nodded in understanding.

"Yes. I will need to break the spell Calder placed on me. Once I have access to my magic I can trace him, and then…I will destroy him." The Avengers then got a glimpse of the old Loki, the one they saw attacking Earth. One dark with anger and hell bent on chaos.

* * *

 **And the bad guy...has been revealed! It's an OC. Shocker! But hopefully I can make you hate him. ;) Cheers! And stay warm.**

 **Please review:)**


	16. Chapter 16

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 16

 **My brain is bleeding out of my ears right now. Spring semester is a beast. Must keep sanity! Must...UPDATE!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Sentimentality**

It was late, but more than one person was awake. Natasha and Clint had gone to bed a few hours ago, and Steve had only just clocked out. Bruce and Tony had escaped down to the lab to analyze the scans Jarvis had taken of Kira's back, though, Kira looked at the nearest clock, Bruce was probably asleep on his desk by this point.

Kira sighed and looked out the window at the city that was still awake with her. She had never imagined the events that had led her to the Tower. She had never thought that Calder would truly harm her in such a way. Perhaps Kira had been naive, believing that Calder was her friend as Loki. It was always the same on Asgard: no one was ever kind to him unless they wanted something…unless it was Lady Frigga. Kira wrapped her arm around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. If there was anything she actually missed about Asgard, it was her mother.

"Brother? Why are you not in bed resting?" Thor walked in rubbing his eyes. He had hesitantly left Kira to get into the comfortable pajamas Steve had introduced him to, and when he didn't return Kira assumed he had unintentionally fallen asleep. Thor had only left because Kira promised she was going to be heading to bed herself in a few minutes. That obviously didn't happen.

Thor came and plopped down onto the couch cushion next to her, nearly sending Kira flying. Thor caught her with a yawn and settled her back. Kira huffed, but ended up leaning back into Thor's side.

"I do not want this day to end," she murmured. She felt Thor shift to settled his arm around her shoulders.

"What do you mean?" Thor's voice vibrated his chest, and Kira felt the strong urge to listen to his heart beat like she used to when they were but children.

"If I fall asleep, when I wake up it will be tomorrow. Tomorrow brings naught but pain and suffering…for myself and those I have come to care for. If I don't fall asleep, I can pretend it will never come." Thor's hand came up and played with her hair. The Golden Prince was fascinated with its length as he wasn't used to having a sister. He had never dared to touch Sif's hair.

"You can't know that there will be nothing but pain. It could bring victory and healing." Kira snorted bitterly.

"With my luck? I think not. You always were the more optimistic of us two." Thor smiled.

"Now that is true." Thor's fingers traced ever so lightly the bruise marring Kira's face. Shame and guilt twisted in his gut so hard he almost couldn't speak. He was surprised when Kira's hand came up and covered his own.

"Do not hate yourself over this. I may not like you…but I have long since forgiven you." Thor's heart gave a little jolt, and his mind suddenly bombarded him with hundreds of memories where he had hurt Loki…and his brother had made him grovel for days.

"Since when have you become so gracious and merciful?" Kira rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away instead of holding it like she secretly wanted to.

"It is this female body. It makes me more sentimental." Thor barked out a quiet laugh (for him) and hugged Kira close, hooking his chin over her head.

"Well, whatever you blame it on, I am grateful." Kira didn't respond, but after a few moments, Thor could feel her slowly tensing in his arms.

"Thor? Why have you not brought me back yet? Surely you will be punished for disobeying the Allfather's orders." The Golden Prince understood Kira's worries, but was himself not concerned.

"Because, I believe you. Besides, I was ordered to bring back the Loki that escaped from his prison cell, the Traitor. It is quite obvious…now, that that is not you." Kira could not help but be shocked by her brother finding loopholes. It was so unlike him. Perhaps he had picked up a thing or two over their centuries together.

Thor let out a deep breath and pet Kira's hair, a gesture that was not entirely new to her. The Prince of Asgard eased Kira into his arms and stood, easily keeping her secure against his chest. Kira did not complain beyond an eye roll and let Thor carry her to her bedchambers. Except…that was not where Thor took her. Instead, the Thunderer walked right to _his_ bedroom and carried Kira in like there wasn't anything off about the situation.

"Thor? I believe you are confused by the late hour. This is your bedroom, not mine." Thor pulled the blankets back with one arm and then set Kira down on the bed.

"I am not confused. I wish to ensure you rest. We did this very same thing for years, Lo-Kira. What is the problem with doing it now?" Kira's jaw dropped.

"How about we did this when we were small children scared of the dark, and we were two boys? It…it is not proper now that we are grown and I am technically your _sister_." It was Thor's turn to roll his eyes as he slid into bed beside her.

"Since when have you cared about what is 'proper'? There is no one here to scold us. Just go to sleep." With that, Thor pulled the blankets back up and laid an arm over Kira's waist, ensuring she stayed. Kira huffed, but eventually settled down. It was only moments later that she fell blissfully asleep.

* * *

Tony stumbled in to Team Breakfast only to reach for the coffee and grunt at his friends. The others didn't comment as this wasn't anything new. The inventor would go on an insomniac genius spree and pull all nighters. It wasn't conducive to waking up in the morning with a cheery disposition. However, when Steve was cooking, even Tony dragged himself out of bed.

When the caffeine had kicked in enough to help Tony see past the blur of his exhaustion, he frowned.

"Where are Kira and Thor? Kira's always on time for breakfast, and Thor wouldn't miss food for anything." Steve pushed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Tony.

"Maybe they decided to sleep in for once. Yesterday was pretty rough for them…well for all of us really." Stark didn't seem too convinced and questioned Jarvis as to the two Norse gods' whereabouts.

 _"Miss Kira and Mr. Odinson are sleeping in Mr. Odinson's bed."_ Tony and Clint both spit out their coffee, effectively coating most of the table in their spray.

"What?!" They shouted it together and sent each other early morning glares. Neither noticed the glares they were getting from Bruce, Steve and Natasha, and both of them ignored the other three's shouts for them to stop when they went running off to Thor's room. Tony wanted to make sure Thor hadn't hurt Kira or worse; his mind was conjuring dark images of why Kira was in Thor's bed. Clint was running to make sure Kira hadn't sliced Thor's throat in his sleep.

However, when they arrived and slammed the door open, both of them were proved to be very wrong. Both "demi-gods" were sleeping peacefully. Thor had his arm thrown across Kira's waist, while Kira herself was tucked as close to Thor's chest as possible without hurting her arm. To Tony's relief, both of them still had all of their clothes on, and to Clint's, Thor's throat was fully intact and he was breathing normally. Both archer and inventor were suddenly yanked back out of the room by their shirt collars by a rather irritated Captain America. Jarvis ensured the door closed once they were out of the way.

"You two need to knock it off!" Steve held them so they were facing him directly and getting the full force of his 'disappointed/frustrated face'. "If you spend all of your time fighting and being suspicious of either of _them_ , we'll never make any progress and we'll fall apart by the time a _real_ conflict comes along." He waited for them to nod, before he let them go. Tony caught Bruce's eye and nearly flinched at the disappointment he found there as well. Maybe this wasn't one of his finest moments. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Clint getting the same treatment from Natasha.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened and there stood Thor, bleary eyed and confused.

"Is something wrong, my friends? My bro-er-sister… _Kira_ is still resting." Before Tony could blurt out what the rest of them would only assume was something offensive, Steve apologized.

"We're sorry to wake you up. We were just concerned when you were missing from the breakfast table." Thor's eyebrows went up, and he turned to check the clock on his nightstand.

"We did not mean to be rude, Captain. Kira had stayed up until early in the morning, lost in her thoughts, something Loki was oft to do. I had to carry her to bed to ensure she got any sleep, and keep ahold to make sure she stayed there. Another thing I am quite used to." Tony would never admit to the shame burning his throat, and instead clapped Thor's arm in a friendly manner. Whatever; _he_ knew what it meant.

"Way to help out, Hammer Time. Kira would come down and sit in the lab with me when she couldn't sleep, even though Bruce was working on getting her on a regular sleep pattern." Thor tilted his head in acceptance of the praise, but then shifted subtly to fill the whole doorway. He particularly eyed Clint as he said,

"Kira aims to reverse the spells placed on her by this afternoon. How will you be affected seeing my brother as Loki, though he was not the one to hurt you?" Clint pursed his lips and finally sighed after staring for too long into Thor's slight puppy dog/mostly bulldog expression.

"I'm working on it, Thor. I can't say I'm just going to set up play dates with Kira as soon as she's Loki again. But…" Thor's brows lifted in surprise. "If he points me in a better direction, I might just send my arrows that way." Everyone on the team, minus Natasha, was surprised at Clint's concession, given his blatant vehemence towards Kira since the truth came out. It seemed rather sudden, considering the past five minutes, but if Natasha had said something to Clint, there was a good chance he would go along with it.

Thor seemed to accept the answer and relaxed somewhat. He looked back to Steve.

"I will rouse her, and then may we join you for breakfast?" Steve smiled broadly and nodded.

"Of course, Thor. Sorry again." Thor closed the door, and Cap frog marched Tony and Clint back to the kitchen.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're going! I said I was sorry, Mom!" Steve rolled his eyes at Tony's antics and just pushed him down into his seat and did the same to Clint.

"Anything like this happens again, and I'm putting you both in time out like the five year olds you are acting like. Understand?" Both men nodded, matching scowls on their face. "Good. Now eat. Tony, coffee isn't breakfast." For all Steve complained when Tony called him mom, he sure did a good impression of one.

A few minutes later, Thor came into the room, carrying a disgruntled Kira. The dark circles under her eyes were prominent and since they corroborated with Thor's story, no one pointed them out. Kira gave Steve a tired smile, when the man pushed a plate of food to her.

"Thank you, Captain." Steve smiled back and dug into his own plate. After a few minutes of Kira pushing her food around her plate despite Thor's urgings, Natasha spoke.

"Thor tells us you plan on reversing the spell today. Are you going to turn into a genocidal maniac again if you do?" Kira nearly choked on the bit of food she finally put in her mouth. Thor gently patted her back as she coughed and glared at the assassin. Natasha only raised a brow at the blond prince and looked expectantly at Kira. Once the raven-haired woman had herself back under control, she shook her head.

"That is not my intention. My mind does not change when I change gender. As I told Thor, I am still me. And in case you are concerned, I do not still harbor those feelings." Thor actually reeled back at the new information.

"K-Kira…you mean to say that you no longer hate the Frost Giants?" Kira opened her mouth and shut it again, trying to find the right words.

"I can only say that…that I do not wish to be responsible for the decimation of an entire race. I killed Laufey. I killed the one that left me to die. The rest of them might still be beasts, but…maybe…maybe there is another abandoned child waiting for someone to rescue it. I won't be responsible for its death." Thor's eyes softened, and he laid a hand on Kira's shoulder and squeezed. Kira cleared her throat and looked determinedly at Tony.

"You have the scans Jarvis took of my back." The inventor blinked at the rapid subject change but nodded readily.

"Yep. Jarv, give the nice lady what she asked for." Without a verbal response, a screen popped up on the wall across from them, and Kira hissed at what she saw.

"What? What is it," Bruce asked, his face pinched in concern.

"This is a very dark, cruel spell. It was meant to be degenerative, so my magical core would eventually break down and whatever's left of my power would transfer to the one that cast it. I would be nothing but a shell in a few days time…that is, if he had done it correctly." Steve's eyebrows shot up.

"He did it wrong?" Kira nodded, her eyes not leaving the screen.

"Yes. His carvings were too sloppy to fully take hold. That is the only reason I am still alive right now. Stark," she leveled her eyes to the inventor. "I am going to need salt, candles, lavender and a knife of pure iron." Tony nodded, knowing Jarvis would have those at the Tower within the hour.

"Done. Anything else?" Kira gave him a terse nod.

"Your help."

* * *

 **The beginning part I wrote more about how I feel. When something is coming the next day I don't want to go to sleep. I think the longer I stay awake the longer I can put off tomorrow.**

 **Please review:)**


	17. Chapter 17

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 17

 **Every day I ask myself, why am I a science major again? The answer seems weaker the closer I get to tests. :/ Ugh. I need sleep. Don't mind me.**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 ****Warnings: GROSS IMAGERY IN THIS CHAPTER! Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Guess Who's Back?**

Kira had requested a open, quiet space to perform the ritual, so Tony had offered up on of his currently empty lounge floors near the middle of the Tower. Jarvis had indeed come through and within the hour the requested items were delivered. Everyone was carrying a box, sans Kira, and they exited the elevator on the sixteenth floor. Kira nodded approvingly at the space and directed everyone to open their boxes.

Tony ripped his open and took hold of a few bunches of lavender. He smirked in amusement as he held them out to Kira.

"So, why do you need my help?" Kira took the lavender and set it near the 'front' of the salt circle she had set. Thor passed her the knife which she held up in front of Tony's face.

"I need you to fix the symbols, so I can properly remove the curse." Tony's jaw dropped, and he took a hasty step back.

"What?! Fix them? Like… _carve them into your skin_ fix them?!" Kira sighed and rubbed her temple with the hilt of the knife.

"Yes, Stark. I need you to carve the symbols properly, otherwise the removal spell, or counter-curse, will fail and potentially kill me. I need someone who…who cares about me and that I trust to do this part of the spell." Tony pointed at Thor.

"What about Hammer Time?! You know, you're brother? Or Steve-the-Boy-Scout? Or, I don't know, Bruce- _the doctor!"_ Kira pointed at each of the named men in turn with the knife.

"Thor's natural magic would interfere. While the Captain might be a Saint, he cares more about the team than me." Steve looked like he wanted to protest but found that there was nothing he could say in his defense. "And the last thing any of us want is Dr. Banner hulking out in the middle of a volatile spell. I trust you to do what needs to be done, but do it to help me and no other reason. Magic can read intentions. If this is to work, it has to be you." Tony couldn't help but feel both honored and terrified at the same time.

After a few solid minutes of contemplating what he was taking on, Tony finally nodded.

"Okay. I'll do it." The inventor didn't miss the relieved half smile that bloomed on Kira's face. The woman was quick to conceal it, but Tony had seen it for a brief second and that was enough to strengthen his resolve.

To prepare for the ritual, Kira had each of the Avengers place a candle where directed. She limped the circle once more with salt before lighting the first candle. Taking a handful of lavender, Kira stuck the blooming end into the small flame, allowing the plant to catch alight. She then went about lighting each candle with the burning lavender. When all of the candles were lit and the lavender was burned out, Kira crushed the ashes in her hand and stepped into the circle.

The Avengers watched in curiosity and apprehension as Kira began chanting, and then she formed a small mountain on the marble floors with the lavender ash. She somehow managed to gracefully sit on the floor despite the cast and sling, while not pausing in her chanting at all. The room began to get warmer and all of the Avengers could feel it. No amount of discomfort could get them to leave the room at that point, however.

Suddenly, Kira stopped her chanting and stared straight ahead.

"Stark, take up the knife and step into the circle. Sit as I am, behind myself, and cut the back of my shirt open." _Kinky_. The word leapt unbidden into Tony's mind, and he quickly shook it out. It was not the time for his brand of commentary; even he could see that. Taking a deep breath, Tony grabbed the handle of the knife as Steve passed it to him. Without giving himself anymore time to think about it, the inventor stepped into the circle and sat cross legged facing Kira's back. Luckily for him, Kira had already removed the sling, so that was one less thing he had to worry about. Tony pinched the collar in his fingers, and with his rather great dexterity, stretched it apart to give it enough tension to make it easier to cut. The knife cut through the shirt like butter.

Random thoughts flitted about in the back of Tony's skull. He imagined the blueprints and patents surrounding a fabric that was entirely bullet proof and could withstand any number of dastardly weapons. Perhaps he could test it out with Steve's suit. Tony once again forced himself to focus back on the task at hand. This was honestly the first time in his life that Tony was unsure whether he should unhook a woman's bra.

His dilemma was solved for him when Kira reached back with one hand and unhooked it herself. _Well isn't she a show off? I should ask her to teach me how to do that._ Tony was now staring at Kira's back…which was not as mark free as he had seen earlier. It was like looking at a 3-D movie without the glasses as letters and symbols began to appear. After a few moments, which felt like an eternity to the impatient and anxious inventor, the symbols were perfectly clear to him.

That must have been what Kira was waiting for, because she breathed deeply and began speaking.

"Alright, Stark. I am going to guide you through this next part. I need you to pay close attention." Tony nodded though Kira couldn't see him. The inventor refused to look at his shaking hands and took more deep breaths to stave off a panic attack.

"The first symbol you need to fix looks like a circle with a line slashed vertically through it. Do you see it?" Again Tony nodded, but followed it up with verbal confirmation.

"Yeah. Yeah, I see it." It was just to the left of Kira's spine and up near her neck.

"The bottom of the vertical line needs to extend another centimeter downward and then have a ninety-degree turn towards my spine that goes until it just reaches the other side of my vertebrae." Stark felt a very strong urge to just up and run away, but he knew that was the last thing he _should_ do. So, pushing that urge down, Tony pressed the tip of the knife into the divot of the already carved line and did as instructed. Tony almost stopped when Kira's blood started flowing, but once again thought of the consequences of him doing so and kept going.

Kira took deep breaths herself to keep from tensing or crying out during this part of the ritual. The pain would only get worse the closer she got to succeeding, part of why this curse was considered so dark. She waited for Tony's confirmation that he was finished before she instructed him on the next symbol.

"The next one is a rectangle with an open long side and an X connecting the corners." Tony found it up near her right shoulder.

"Got it." Kira went on to give Tony step by step instructions to fix five symbols all together. The Avengers outside the circle watched on in horrified curiosity. When Stark finished carving the last symbol, Kira took another deep breath and held out a hand.

"Thank you, Stark. Now, hand me the knife and carefully stand and exit the circle." Tony had to control himself to do as Kira suggested, rather than jumping up and running as far away as he could like he wanted to. He gently placed the handle of the knife into Kira's hand and stood. Careful not to knock over any candles or break the circle, Stark stepped out and immediately went to stand by Bruce. The doctor laid a comforting hand on his shoulder as he tried not to vomit at what he had just done.

They watched transfixed as Kira continued the ritual. She cut a diagonal line along one of her palms and set the knife down. Using the fingers of her other hand, Kira spilt some in the pile of lavender ash and drew symbols on the ground in her blood. The sorceress started chanting again. Now that her curse was settled correctly, she did not have long before its full effects hit her and she could no longer perform the ritual.

Those outside of the circle grew tense as a wind picked up from nowhere, and the electricity in the room started flickering. The pace and volume of Kira's chanting increased and the all watched, horrified, as the symbols on Kira's back began to rot and ooze black sludge. If he didn't know that it would certainly kill his brother and himself, Thor would have jumped into the circle and stopped Kira long ago. Her chanting began to sound more like cries of pain than anything clearly identifiable as words.

Then everything stopped. The mysterious wind stopped blowing; the candles had gone out. Kira didn't make any noise and if they looked closely they could see…she had stopped breathing. Her head was thrown back, and her mouth hung open in a silent scream. Then, without warning, there was a loud SNAP!

The candles flared to life once more but the flames grew until they were nothing but columns of fire that reached the ceiling. They could no longer see Kira, but they heard as soon as the screaming started up again. Heat poured from the circle and they were all forced to take steps back to avoid being burned.

Just when they thought it couldn't get any hotter or the flames any brighter, it was over. The candles were nothing more than flaking wax on the ground. Salt and ashes and blood and black sludge painted the area like a gory modern art piece, and in the center of the circle lay none other…than a dirtied and naked Loki Odinson.

None of them knew what to do. They didn't know if it was safe to enter what was left on the circle to see if Loki was alright. Thor started at his fallen brother, desperate to see some sign of life.

"Loki," he called. There was no movement, no answer. The Golden Prince felt his heart pounding as strong as Mjolnir in his chest, ready to break free and shatter on the ground.

"C'mon, Lokes. Get up. You've made a mess of my floors." Bruce had a hand on Tony's shoulder to stop the man from doing what most of them wanted to do, run over to Loki. The seconds ticked by and there was still no response.

"Hey, asshole! Wake up." Everyone turned to stare at Clint, jaws on the ground, but the archer only shrugged. Then he pointed at the fallen God of Mischief. Their heads swung around just in time to see the Trickster stir. Had he his cape, Thor would have swiftly covered Loki's modesty, but that was not to be.

Loki groaned and that was when his eyes flew open, shocked at the masculine sound coming from his own mouth. He lifted up a shaking hand and brought it to his face, taking in his male form. A smile tugged at his lips, but he was too exhausted for much more. Loki looked down at the rest of his body and sighed.

"A covering would be nice." His voice was raspy and deep. It sounded strange to his own ears, having been stuck in his female form for so long. He didn't see who it was, but someone draped a blanket over him, for which he was grateful.

Loki's arm and leg were still injured, but now that his magical core was completely freed, his natural magic would slowly begin to heal him. At the present, however, his injuries made it hard to stand on his own. Using his good arm he slowly pushed himself into a seated position and then sighed.

"Thor…some help, if you would." Thor had been soaking in the sight of his brother, and it took a moment for him to register the request. However, when he did, he was quick to act. In a moment, Thor had Loki scooped in his arms.

"This is not what I meant, and you know it," Loki croaked angrily. Tony snickered at the tall and slender God of Mischief being carried like a small child over to the couch. The Trickster turned his glare from his brother to the inventor, and Tony actually stopped in his tracks. Flashbacks to the battle started to press on his mind, but he quickly shook them away. Just because the real Loki hadn't been the one to attack New York, didn't mean his face wasn't still attached to the Avengers' memories of the battle.

Loki's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open, realizing what had just happened.

"I…I am sorry, Stark. I didn't-" Loki's stilted apology jolted Tony from his stupor and he sent a smile Loki's way and walked over to flop in the chair next to him.

"It's fine. Just gonna take a little while to get used to Loki and not Kira." Loki didn't return his smile, and he sensed that the other Avengers were now even more uncomfortable around him. It was one thing to know that as Kira, he was also Loki and it was another to actually look like Loki.

Unfortunately, Thor picked up on this and decided to comment.

"Come, my friends. This is my true brother, not the evil one that attacked the great New York." Thor waved them over as he sat down by Loki's feet. Loki winced as the move jostled his still aching achilles.

Steve and Bruce were the first to move from their spots and approach. When they were standing with the Asgardians and Tony, they all looked over at the two assassins. Clint's fists were clenched, and he glared at the Trickster. Loki looked him square in the eyes, refusing to back down. Someone with his face had hurt Clint, but it hadn't been him. After what felt like hours, the archer slowly moved towards them, Natasha staying by his side.

Her eyes darted over the scene, and she deemed it safe…for now. Loki had his magic back, and that made him unpredictable.

Said Trickster shifted, uncomfortable with the feeling of his tendon and shoulder socket slowly, painfully healing themselves. Bruce's eyes narrowed, as he saw the pained pinch in Loki's expression.

"Ki- I mean, Loki…are you okay? I thought with your magic, you'd be healed." Loki smiled at the concerned doctor, though it came out as more of a grimace.

"I may have my magic and Asgardian healing back, Dr. Banner, but I spent all of my energy in the ritual. I will heal faster now, but it will still take a day or two before I am completely whole again and able to use all of my magical abilities."

 _"Sir,_ " Jarvis suddenly spoke. _"Director Fury is on his way up the elevator."_ Tony sighed.

"I wonder if he's actually going to blow a blood vessel this time."

* * *

 **And it's the Loki we all know and love! Gosh I missed him. :) But, do you think Kira will ever be back?**

 **Please review:)**


	18. Chapter 18

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 18

 **Guys! SPRING BREAK! It is a magical sleepy time place with food and puppies and kittens! I'm happy. Carry on. :) Also this is a direct continuation of the last chap, so you might** **want to re-read the last couple lines of that one before this. Thanks!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Hold Your Head High**

Director Fury actually did blow a blood vessel. It was a little one in his eye, but that still counted. He full on stopped in his tracks at seeing _Loki_ sitting casually amongst the Avengers. His hand went to his side arm, but he suddenly found the entire team of super-heroes (sans his agents) standing protectively in front of the Asgardian Nut.

"Whoa, hey! Pretty sure I have a rule about no shooting my guests. If I don't, now it's official. No shooting my guests." Fury's eye twitched at Stark's rambling, but he didn't take his hand off of his gun. The Director looked around the room and was surprised at the gore on the floor.

"What. Did you. Do," Fury ground out. Tony looked affronted, but before he could open his mouth again, Steve intervened.

"We did what you wanted, Director. We got answers." Fury growled at the Captain. Sometimes, Fury questions whether bringing Steve Rogers out of the ice was a good idea…and then Coulson's voice would ring in his head. _You won't find a man more devoted to what he believes is right, and to Steve that's defending the innocent._ Phil had gotten to what ever shriveled part of Fury's heart still clung to sentimentality. _He's a good man. The world needs more of those._

"Besides," Bruce chimed in. "Are you really going to shoot an Avenger?" Everyone's heads flicked around to stare at the doctor, including Loki's. Tony got it first, obviously. He gave Fury a smug smile.

"That's right. We decided to make Kira an Avenger. Boy Wonder convinced you to say yes. Turn's out Kira and Loki are the same person. Ergo, you made Loki an Avenger. No take backs!" Fury had to take a deep breath to not act like a child in retaliation to Stark's taunting.

"I never would have said yes had I known that it was Loki." Tony shook his head.

"You know that wouldn't hold up in court."

"Tony, enough," Steve admonished. Yes, he would stand by their decision of having made Kira/Loki an Avenger, but Fury could disband the Avengers legally if he so wished. Tony needed to stop poking the bear.

"Sir, if I may-" Fury swung his glare back around to the injured God of Mischief on the couch.

"Did I say you could speak?" Loki, instead of being intimidated, only lifted an unimpressed brow. Fury growled in frustration.

"Fine. What," he barked. Loki pursed his lips and did his best not to roll his eyes.

"I can tell you exactly who attacked your planet, and I can track them. Or I can just leave, if that would make you feel better. Keep in mind, he has escaped from Asgard and will likely return." Fury didn't answer right away. He just kept glaring at the Norse god as he contemplated his next decision. After a solid five minutes of holding strong, Fury caved. "Tell me." Loki was surprised the Director gave in so fast, but understood the urgency.

"His name is Calder. He is a sorcerer, who during our friendship, developed an unhealthy obsession with myself and with becoming king. He planned to kill Thor, take over Asgard, and have me rule by his side. I managed to get him banished for treason. I believe he either fell into Thanos's service or approached him on his own. The man is not what you would call sane. Thanos charged him with retrieving the Tesseract from your planet, but when I fell into the Chitauri world, Calder saw his chance to take revenge on me. He carved a curse into my skin and used my own magic to 'become me'." Fury snorted and rubbed the skin above his eye patch.

"Well, what I'm hearing, is that this is still partially your fault." Loki rolled his eyes.

"If believing so makes you sleep better at night, then go ahead. In any case, I can help you track him. If you haven't guessed, I am quite motivated to see his end."

"The enemy of my enemy," Tony muttered under his breath. Fury glared at the inventor, but didn't say anything. The Director looked at Thor.

"And you believe all of this now?" Thor had his arms crossed and was standing protectively in front of his brother.

"Yes. Loki has proven trustworthy in this. I also know of Calder and some of his obsession with my brother." Loki looked up at Thor, his brows furrowed in surprise.

"You do? You never knew any of my friends and always complained that I spent too much time by myself." Thor rolled his eyes in embarrassment and looked away.

"I might have been a bit jealous that you spent more of your time with magic and _him_ than with me," he muttered. Loki narrowed his eyes and smirked at his brother.

"There is no way that is _not_ being used against you from now on." Steve cleared his throat.

"Guys." The Asgardians turned back to the situation at hand. Clint surprised everyone when he suddenly raised his hand with a question.

"Now that Loki's _Loki_ again, and supposedly cut off the other nut's magic source, what's he going to do? Does he have his own magic, or do we have to worry about this big bad Thanos guy knocking on our front door?" Everyone looked from Clint to Loki. The God of Mischief was grimacing.

"I…cannot be certain. If he escaped under his own power and was smart, he would be running as far as he could. Thanos does not take kindly to failure. If Thanos broke him out, there is a good chance that Calder is already dead, and Thanos could go to Asgard to get the Tesseract back and or come here to destroy Midgard…to let off some steam if you will. _Or_ , Calder could be even more stupid and crazed than I believed and will come back here for revenge…again." The Avengers all groaned. Bruce was rubbing viciously at his eyes and taking deep breaths. The others backed up a bit, sans Tony.

"Hmmm, door one, two or three? They all sound so exciting," Tony droned. Fury's face seemed to be permanently fixed in a scowl.

"And how do you propose we figure out which door it will be," Natasha asked. Loki only shrugged his shoulders…as best he could with his injury.

"Wait for the first shot to be fired, I'm afraid." Thor looked down at Loki in admonishment.

"Loki, you know there is another way." The raven-haired man scowled at his brother.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I was trying to _avoid_ the option that got me executed," he bit out. Thor sighed.

"Loki, I won't let Father execute you. You know Mother wouldn't allow it either." Loki growled.

"How can you still have such blind faith in the man!? He's a manipulative bas-"

"Guys! Can you act your age for once!? Aren't you supposed to be centuries old, at least?" Steve had his hands on his hips and was glaring at the two aliens. Thor and Loki blinked at the Captain and then looked at each other.

"Is it just me?"

"No, no. The resemblance is uncanny." Loki and Thor looked back at Steve and ducked their heads like scolded children.

"Yes, Mother," they said in perfect unison. Tony burst out laughing as Steve's jaw dropped to the floor.

* * *

It took a while for them to all agree on the plan and then for Fury to stop cursing and trying to shut it all down. However, they managed and eventually Thor and Loki stood side by side on the helicopter platform. Thor was dressed in his full regalia, while Loki wore a suit Tony had Jarvis buy and send over within the hour. It would not do for him to stand before the Allfather in Midgardian jeans and a t-shirt.

Thor looked at his brother standing tall beside him one last time and waved goodbye to their friends. He then turned his face skyward and called for the Gatekeeper. In the next moment, they were gone.

Loki and Thor walked through the beam to the Bifrost with all the grace of those who had done so for centuries. The God of Mischief looked fully in control and like his old self, minus the Asgardian garb, but Thor still kept an eye on him. He knew Loki was still injured, but his brother was able to hide it well. No doubt Loki did not want to appear weak in front of the Allfather. His younger brother looked around at the near empty dome pointedly.

"Well, no guards yet. That could be a good sign."

"They will come at a moments notice, I assure you," came the deep, resonating voice of Heimdall. Loki smiled charmingly at the man, not that it had any affect.

"I wouldn't expect any less." The Gatekeeper gestured to two horses awaiting their riders and the brothers mounted their steeds. Thor did not miss the slight grimace on Loki's face as he hauled himself up onto the animal, but his brother scowled when he noticed the concern.

"There are more important things to be worrying about, Thor. Focus, would you?" Without another word, Loki turned his horse and set off down the bridge at full gallop. Thor was quick to follow and it seemed in no time at all, they were before the front gates. The guards stationed there looked on, shocked, as their Crown Prince walked by with his traitor bother as if nothing had happened. Both Asgardian princes ignored them and any other wayward glances. Loki was walking with bated breath, just waiting to run into Thor's little posse of friends. He couldn't believe his good fortune when they made it to the Throne room doors without the anticipated meeting.

The brothers paused at the door. Loki looked over at Thor.

"Still sure I won't be executed?" Thor swallowed and looked back at the intimidating entrance.

"Well, we've made it this far, haven't we?" They each took a bracing breath and pushed the doors open. Loki was shocked to find the room was empty save the Allfather and Allmother waiting at the other end. He walked step-in-step with Thor, concealing his injuries flawlessly, all the while keeping his eyes peeled for concealed guards waiting to arrest him.

The stopped at the foot of the dais, placed their fists on their chests and bowed in perfect synchronization as they had done hundreds of times before. However, one thing would certainly be different. Loki would let Thor do the talking. They straightened, but while they brought their heads up, Loki kept his eyes cast down.

"Thor, you have finally returned with your brother, and yet I get the feeling you do not intend to stay." The Golden Prince nodded.

"You are correct, Father. New information has been revealed and-" Thor was stopped by his father's raised hand.

"We already know. Heimdall has kept us well informed on everything that has passed since you arrived on Midgard." Thor felt a twinge of shame welling up in his chest.

"Everything?" His voice was not as strong as he intended.

"Oh yes. Everything." Thor cringed at his mother's sharp tone. One look and he knew exactly what she was thinking of. He knew he would forever pay for his actions, whether through the reminders of others or his own shame and guilt. However, he pushed all of that aside, for as his brother said, they had more important things to be concerned about.

"Father, we seek your aid to find the true villain who attacked Midgard. Calder. We have reason to believe he might attack Midgard again." The Allfather stared at Thor for a solid minute before turning his attention to Loki, who had yet to look up from the floor.

"And you, Loki? Do you believe that Calder will attack Midgard again?" The Trickster was surprised to be addressed. Even before everything in his life had crashed down, he was ignored and only Thor's word was taken. He picked his eyes from the floor and nodded to the Allfather.

"That is one possibility I fear, Allfather. There is also the chance that Thanos has already captured him and taken revenge, but in that case I am also concerned that the Titan might seek revenge against Midgard as well."

"Heimdall has been keeping watch over Thanos and it appears that he neither has Calder nor plans to make any move against the mortals." Loki nodded sharply once, but before his gaze cast back to the floor his eyes caught those of the Allmother. She smiled warmly at him, and his heart clenched.

"Loki, dear. It is so good to see you, my son." Loki felt his throat tighten. Anything he might have said next was interrupted by the doors of the throne room bursting open and a guard running in.

"Your Majesty! Prince Loki is…attacking…Midgard…" The guard stopped in his tracks at seeing the aforementioned Asgardian prince standing before him. Loki and Thor looked to each other, concern equal in their eyes. Without a word they bolted towards the doors to get back to the Bifrost.

"Loki! Wait!" Loki nearly fell over with how quickly he stopped at the Allfather's call. He turned slowly, waiting for the inevitable order for him to be detained, for Thor to go and save their friends while he was thrown in prison. The Allfather held his spear out to him, and Loki was sure the man was going to strike him dead, then and there. Suddenly, power shot out of the spear and collided with him. Instead of frying him to a crisp, however, Loki's magical core was filled to the brim with energy and all of his wounds completely healed.

He looked at the Allfather, his jaw hanging open. Odin gave him a small smile, the first genuine smile Loki had ever gotten from the man, and nodded.

"Go. And when you have saved Midgard, know that you can always come home." Loki, for once in his life, didn't know what to say. So, he didn't say anything. He nodded his thanks, turned and ran out, Thor at his side.

* * *

 **So much dialogue! Sorry not sorry. I'll see you in 2 weeks! :)**

 **Please review:)**


	19. Chapter 19

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 19

 **I didn't even realize until I wrote this chapter, that we are actually pretty close to the end. Gonna be wrapping this up soon.**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Over**

Once the brothers were gone, the Avengers traipsed back to the common room and sat.

"And now…we wait." Steve rolled his eyes at the inventor, but didn't say anything. Fury growled something to Natasha and Clint before barking at all of them to stay put. He then swept from the room, leaving them in silence.

They each went into their own little worlds, spreading out but not leaving the room. The minutes ticked by slowly, and at the half hour mark Natasha was counting to ten in every language she knew to prevent herself from stabbing Stark in the knee. He had started pacing.

They all jumped to their feet, or stopped pacing, when the Avenger Crisis alarm went off.

 _"Sir, there has been an incident at a SHIELD facility in New Mexico. It appears Loki has stolen the scepter being housed there."_ A collective shout of "What?!" rang through the room covering up Clint's "I Knew It!" Steve only hesitated for a second.

"Everybody suit up! Hawkeye, Black Widow get the Quinjet-"

 _"That won't be necessary, Sirs. He has just arrived on the balcony."_ They all spun around as fast as they could, and Tony's suit started flying towards him. Sure enough, there standing on the balcony, was a manic looking Loki holding the scepter. The man before them looked nothing like the regal-despite-still-being-injured Asgardian that had left with Thor. No, this Loki looked like hell and like he was going to bring hell down on all of them.

Finally, Stark's suit finished coming together and he lifted his palm blasters.

"Well, Rock of Ages, didn't think we'd be meeting again so soon. Figured you'd rot in prison for a couple centuries and the fortieth generation of Avengers would have to deal with you." Tony wasn't sure what it was, but something was off about all of this. Loki's grin split his face, and they were all having flashbacks.

"I'm glad to have exceeded your expectations then, Stark. You know," Loki twirled the scepter around in his hand. "You still owe me that drink." Loki stepped forward and then winced. He paused and Bruce saw a surge emit from the scepter, but it didn't come out as a blast towards them. No, it traveled up Loki's arm. Once that happened, the Asgardian straightened and smiled again.

Bruce caught Natasha's eye and knew she saw it too. Loki was somehow getting strength from the scepter. Dr. Banner tried to slowly back out of the room, before the Hulk made his entrance.

"Ah, ah, ah, Dr. Banner. I'd rather you stay right where you are."

"Loki, why are you doing this?" A sharp eyebrow raised at Dr. Banner's question.

"Why wouldn't I is a better question. I don't like being humiliated or defeated by mere mortals. I'm here to rectify that and get a little satisfaction at seeing you all kneel at my feet."

"Loki, you're brother will be here soon, and you know he's going to kick your ass, just like last time." Loki growled at Black Widow.

"He's not my brother!" Tony smirked and snorted.

"Bet you get really tired of saying that, don't you, Calder?" 'Loki' froze.

" _What_ did you just say, Stark?" Iron Man took a step closer at the same time Calder did. He was going to try to keep the villain's full attention on himself, to hopefully give Cap and Barton time to get their shield and arrows.

"Oh I think you heard me just fine, _Calder_. It must get really frustrating saying that and only having people believe it to be a temper tantrum, when in reality, it's the complete truth. Thor _isn't_ your brother. He's Loki's."

None of them knew what to do when Calder started laughing. He wrapped an arm around his stomach and doubled over, all while still keeping the scepter trained on them. Steve heard a very quiet noise coming down the hallway and peeked to see Dummy approaching with his shield in the robot's claw. Steve held a hand out and just before Calder straightened up again, managed to get a grip on it.

"You found her, my lovely Kira. It figures that you all of people would. Did you take advantage of her in return for giving her shelter?" Whatever was funny to Calder before was long gone, as rage suddenly filled the man's face.

"You know my reputation. You tell me." Tony was not expecting the all out attack that Calder threw at him, when he continued his distracting. He suddenly found himself on the receiving end of blow after blow and was barely able to block them. Despite having all of his attention on Stark, Calder was still able to block the bullets Black Widow was seeing his way.

Cap threw his shield and it clipped Calder on the side of his head. The man didn't even pause, but he grew more frustrated and took an opening to send a blast at Steve. Cap was knocked to his knees, but Barton took a shot as he had finally gotten his hands on his arrows. Calder only just managed to knock it out of the way with the scepter. He yelled in frustration and aimed to blast Black Widow next, when they were all blinded by a sudden flash of light.

In the few seconds it took for the Avengers' vision to clear, Calder turned _towards_ the light and scowled. There before him, stood Thor. Loki was blocked from Calder's vision, which the Trickster intended to take full advantage of.

" _You!"_ Calder snarled at Thor, and it took the God of Thunder a second to throw off the pain at having his brother look at him so. It was not his brother across from him, but Calder, the traitor and murderer.

"You have impersonated my brother long enough, Calder. Take off his face and fight me with your own." Calder smirked with Loki's face and Thor had to reign in his temper.

"I don't think so. I'd rather see your face as you bleed out beneath me and look into his." With that, Calder launched himself at Thor in much the same way he did to Tony earlier. As before, Natasha and Clint were shooting at Calder, hoping to either distract him or get in a lucky shot. Thor was holding his own quite well, but Calder was fighting with a ferocity unlike he'd ever seen.

While Calder was engaged, Loki snuck around to Bruce who was trying to stay calm in the back. Needless to say it wasn't working.

"Bruce, you need to leave. If the Hulk gets unleashed here, one of your friends will get hurt. I will not have that happen, and I will not have you hate yourself for the rest of your life." Dr. Banner gave a shaky nod and after what Loki supposed was to be an encouraging pat on the back, the good doctor retreated swiftly. Loki took a deep breath. _That's one large hazard out of the way._

He scowled at the space they were in. It was no place to battle. It was too small, confined, and with seven of them all together… Loki needed to end this now. Just as he thought it, Calder gave a mighty bellow and released a spell onto the Avengers, sans Thor. They were all frozen in space and could not move. Loki was able to cast the counter spell in the knick of time, but his eyes widened in surprise. That spell was extremely advanced and Calder would never have been able to accomplish it on his own. Also, the counter spell Loki had done to end Calder's curse took away his power from Calder, so how…

Then he saw what the other Avengers had noticed earlier: the surge from the scepter through Calder. The man was gaining his strength from the scepter. Loki knew now that it wasn't just a blasting weapon, but he had more pressing things to deal with. Later. He would deal with that later. First things first, he had to stop Calder from killing Thor. Speaking of which-

Thor cried out in pain as Calder managed to stab him in the shoulder. The blow was enough to drive the God of Thunder to his knees. Thor tried to swing Mjolnir, but it was his dominant arm that had taken the hit, and Loki could see right away that his brother would not be able to react fast enough. Calder could see it too. The villain smirked and raised the scepter for the killing blow.

"Calder!" The man impersonating Loki stopped at the voice and turned. Before him stood his beloved Kira, holding out her hands, beseeching him. Once Kira had his attention, she called for him again. "Calder…my love, please. Leave this." Calder dropped the scepter so it pressed against Thor's neck, daring him to move, all the while his eyes soaked up Kira's visage.

"I cannot. He has hurt us both too many times to count. _Can't you see_!" Thor winced as the point of the scepter dug in to his flesh. "I'm doing this for you!" Kira shook her head and stepped closer.

"No, Calder. You are doing this for _you_. He is not worthy of your time! I am here now. Let us leave this place." Calder's eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion.

"I wanted to leave with you before, but you refused. You let those disgusting monsters take advantage of you, and I had to teach you a lesson. Then when I gave you a way out, you spat at me." Kira clenched her jaw and stepped closer until she was within touching distance of the villain.

While she kept Calder's attention on her face, one palm was aimed towards the frozen Avengers. She was silently unweaving the spell Calder had cast and was almost there. Kira carefully laid her other hand on Calder's arm.

"I was confused, Calder. I had been hurt and disoriented and dealing with the betrayal of my family. Then Thanos…" Kira shuddered and winced for dramatic affect. It worked. Calder's expression softened, and he turned more fully towards her, causing the scepter to pull back from Thor just enough.

Kira finished the spell, freeing the Avengers then turned her palm towards Thor and blasted him a safe distance away from Calder. The villain was frozen in shock for the two seconds all of Kira's magic took, but then he lost it.

Calder bellowed and slammed the scepter into Kira's temple. He grabbed ahold of Kira's arm, dragging her to his chest. She was disoriented from the blow and couldn't fight as he flipped her around so his chest pressed against her back and the scepters blade cut into her throat.

"I loved you. We were going to rule Asgard together and burn Midgard to the ground. Thor and the Allfather and the Allmother would have licked the dirt from our boots. We would have _ruled_ ," Calder hissed in her ear. "But I guess you are too much of a sentimental whore. You fell right back into their arms as soon as they smiled at you, didn't you!" By the end of the rant, Kira was struggling against Calder's hold. The scepter seemed to be interfering with her magic, blocking her from using it.

"Calder! Let her go!" Kira's eyes flicked to where Tony had his arms raised and ready to blast as soon as he got an opening. The other Avengers, likewise had their weapons at the ready.

"No! She is mine! She always has been!"

"Calder, release my sister this instant! If you loved her then you would not hurt her!" Thor stood and held Mjolnir in his other hand, already starting to swing it 'round. Kira managed to hiss out a few words.

"What did you say?" Calder slid the side of his face forward against her own, so his ear was closer to her mouth.

"I said," she grunted, "that I don't belong to _anyone_." She spat the last word and then did the only thing she could. Kira turned her head, causing the blade to cut her skin, and bit Calder's ear clean off.

The villain screamed in pain and pulled back enough for Tony to get in a shot. The blast from Iron Man's suit was true and hit Calder directly in the shoulder, burning through the leather and muscles and tendons. The problem…was that Calder still had a hold of Kira.

As Calder stumbled back, he dragged Kira with him. Kira whipped her head around and saw that they were dangerously close to the edge of the outer balcony.

Despite the two excruciating wounds, Calder managed to straighten and fire back. It was then that Kira knew what she had to do. She had to separate Calder from the scepter or he would have a near endless supply of energy. Tears burned in her eyes, and she scowled at the inopportune timing. Now was not the time for fear. Now was the time to act.

Kira met her brother's eyes and tried to tell him how much she loved him. She looked once more on the Avengers, her friends, and took a deep breath.

Before Calder could get off another shot, Kira stomped on his foot and shoved her elbow into his ribs hard enough to crack two of them. The force was enough to send the villain toppling backwards and over the railing.

As Kira fell back with him, she couldn't stop the scream erupting from her throat.

* * *

 **Rather short...ends on a cliff hanger...sorry not sorry! *Runs away laughing maniacally.***

 **Please review:)**


	20. Chapter 20

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 20

 **So after some serious writers block (2 weeks worth!), I woke up this morning and realized I hadn't even finished this chapter. However, I refused to keep you in suspense! I sat down and finished it. :)**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Pull**

"No!" Thor rushed to the edge of the Tower, the other Avengers not far behind. The first thing he saw when he looked over the edge was a quickly growing group of screaming people gathered around an impact site. It made his stomach lurch.

Steve laid a hand on his shoulder as he too leaned over to look. The soldier winced at the sight, then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Steve pulled Thor's head back just in time for him to not get hit square in the forehead with the scepter. The weapon came flying back over the railing and landed a couple feet behind them.

Immediately, Tony flew up and over the railing. He cursed when he found Kira dangling from a curved edge thirty feet down. He carefully flew closer to her.

"Kira, I need you to reached out and wrap an arm around my neck, so I can take you back up." When she didn't respond right away, Tony called to her again. "Kira?" The inventor finally noticed how Kira's eyes were clenched shut. She looked terrified.

"Kira, it's alright. I'm not going to let you fall." The Goddess of Mischief slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to get a better look at him. Tony saw her nod shakily and got as close to her as he could. Kira took a deep breath, before finally reaching out. She managed to hook one arm around Tony's neck and with a tiny cry she let go of the ledge with her other hand and swung her other arm around.

Tony swore he could hear his armor groaning from how tightly she was squeezing him.

"Hold on," he told her, before he carefully reascended back up to the Tower balcony. They were back on solid ground in a matter of seconds, but Kira didn't let go immediately. Even through his suit Tony could feel how bad Kira was shaking.

Natasha and Clint were heading down to the street to make sure Calder was still a splat and not climbing out of the hole in the sidewalk. Steve was asking Jarvis to send Bruce up to them, and Thor was rushing over.

"Kira, are you alright?" His words brought Kira out of her head, and she pulled away from Tony.

"Y-yes. Sorry, I just…" Kira shook her head and in the next moment it was Loki standing before them. He looked a bit more pulled together than Kira, but was still more pale than usual. Loki cleared his throat. "I'm not a fan of falling off things anymore, considering where I ended up last time."

Loki suddenly found himself being pulled to Thor's chest. The Thunderer had one arm wrapped securely around his brother's back, while the other slowly healed.

"Uh…should that thing just be lying around?" They all turned to look at Bruce who was pointing at the scepter lying on the ground. They were shocked when Loki growled.

"Oh, _I_ can take care of that thing." He pushed out of Thor's hold and stalked towards the object that had caused so much strife. Steve gripped his shield a little tighter when Loki lifted the weapon. The Trickster didn't spare a moment looking it over. He raised it above his head and smashed the gem on the ground, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

Loki scowled at the shards and threw the now useless scepter on the ground. Then a glittering yellow caught his eye.

"Captain, don't!" Loki tackled Steve just in time, to prevent the man from picking up the yellow gem. Steve shook his head to clear it and clutched his shield.

"What is that thing?" Loki stood and quickly summoned a container for the stone.

"This, Good Captain," Loki stooped and with a light wave of magic, slid the stone into the container and sealed it. "This is an Infinity Stone. Much like the Tesseract."

"Loki, are you certain?" Thor laid a hand on Loki's shoulder and eyed the yellow gem warily. His younger brother scoffed.

"Of course, I'm certain." Both Asgardians looked up in confusion when Tony gave a lofty, put-upon sigh and flipped his face plate up.

"I'm assuming this means you'll be taking it back with you to Asgard and I'll never get to study it?" Loki rolled his eyes. He waved his free hand above the container and it disappeared.

"There is absolutely no way I'd let you study one of the Infinity Stones, especially not the Mind Stone. Believe it or not, I actually do care for your wellbeing."

"Was the Tesseract an Infinity Stone," Bruce asked. He was curious but he knew better than to want to get his hands on any of them. Loki cocked his head to the side, considering it.

"I believe so, if what I have read is correct. If I am not mistaken, it is the Space Stone. The one held within the scepter was the Mind Stone. There are six in total, and monsters like Thanos wish to master all of them and destroy the universe." Steve stepped closer.

"So you're saying they should never be together or used in any way. Great. Where did you send the Mind Stone?" Loki, starting to feel exhausted from the magical energy he expended, gestured inside towards some seating. The others readily followed. Loki practically fell onto the couch, Thor falling beside him. Steve and Bruce took the arm chairs, while Tony got his suit removed.

Once the inventor was finished and had a drink in his hand, Loki answered the Captain's question.

"I have placed it in a void, where I can carry things without them having to physically be on my person. I can summon objects from this void whenever I have access to my magic." Loki brought the Mind Stone back and then banished it again to demonstrate.

"Ah, but can you pull a rabbit out of a hat?" Loki raised a brow at Tony's strange question.

"Why would I want to do that?" Bruce rolled his eyes and smacked Tony on the back of his head.

"Ignore him. It's a trick human magicians are known for. They pull a rabbit out of a hat." Loki was perplexed for a moment before he understood.

"I see. These magicians you talk of are actually illusionists who do paltry imitations of real magic to entertain Midgardian children." Tony snorted.

"Well when you put it that way-" The inventor was interrupted by Jarvis.

 _"Sir, Agents Romanoff and Barton_ _are inquiring where the best place to put Caldor would be."_

"Tell them the seventh floor is fine. Give them the access code in." Tony waved his hand in the not so general direction of where he was talking about.

" _Very good, Sir. Also, Agent Barton expressed his concern over Caldor still retaining magic…_ " The AI trailed off, waiting for a reply. Loki sighed and stood.

"I can take care of it. I will put a block on his magic that only I can release." The Trickster blinked in surprise when everyone else in the room stood and made to follow him. He raised a brow at them

"I will do as I have said and nothing more. There is no need to supervise." Tony shrugged.

"Honestly, I just want to watch, see how it's done." Bruce nodded.

"Same." Steve strapped his shield more securely to his arm.

"I'll be there to make sure Thor and Clint don't beat the prisoner to death. This whole thing has been pretty personal for both of them." Loki snorted.

"And it hasn't been for me?" Steve raised a brow at the God of Mischief.

"If you were going to kill him, you wouldn't do it now in front of all of us. Besides, I believe that you'll make the right choice and be the better man in this situation." Loki rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, something about goody-two-shoes blondes. He crossed his arms and turned to Thor, awaiting his reason.

"I understand that you can fend for yourself, Brother, but you are still my family. I would be by your side as you confront this villain." Loki threw his arms up and walked away. The sentiment in the room was getting overwhelming. Before he knew it, everyone would be hugging each other and declaring their undying love.

Moments later found all five of them standing in Tony's abnormally large elevator and going down to the seventh floor. The only outward sign Loki gave of not being entirely calm was clenching and unclenching his fists. Thor noticed but made the wise decision not to comment.

The elevator announced that they had reached the seventh floor and the doors slid open. Tony directed them to the right and after a short stretch of hallway they came upon a large glass holding cell. Loki recognized it from the security videos as being a near spitting image of the one Caldor was held in on the SHIELD aircraft.

Natasha and Clint didn't look away from Caldor as the other Avengers approached. The man in question was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the cell. He was glaring at all of them, but his battered appearance took away any intimidation factor.

Luckily, when Kira shoved Caldor over the edge and Loki shattered the scepter, Caldor's illusion as 'Loki' fell. Instead of looking at himself, Loki found a beaten man with the same height and shape as himself. However, Caldor had dark brown eyes and unwashed, lanky brown hair that reached his shoulder on one side and was haphazardly chopped off on the other. With a glance Loki could see that Caldor never broke his disgusting habit of chewing his nails until they bled.

He seemed to be more or less in one piece, though blood and bruises covered nearly every inch of him. The few cuts on his face seemed to be slowly healing though.

Natasha and Clint had placed shackles on his wrists and ankles, and had managed to scrounge up another metal gag similar to the one used after the Battle of New York. The two assassins didn't look away from the villain as the others lined up in front of the glass. Loki met Caldor's glare head on with an impassive expression of his own.

Tony laid a hand on Clint's shoulder like they were just companionably watching a game.

"So, Loki's gonna work his magic so our new friend here can't work his." Clint finally looked at Tony and then at Loki, skepticism written all over his face. Caldor's eyes widened in both fear and fury as he glared even harder at the Asgardian Prince, daring him to try.

Loki rolled his eyes at the archer's distrust.

"I want him as chained as you do. Without his magic, he is mostly harmless." Natasha raised a brow.

"Mostly?" Loki smirked at the red head.

"Yes. You must be careful. It's a good thing you got the gag on him. He bites." At that Caldor lunged forward, though he couldn't really do much. Loki turned his smirk on Caldor. "Not so much fun being on that end of things, is it? You know, Caldor. You are not the luckiest of people. A few months ago and I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you. Now," Loki narrowed his eyes. "You will feel the pain of being cut off from your magic as I was and spend the rest of your miserable life rotting in an Asgardian prison. If Thanos doesn't somehow get ahold of you."

The villain shuddered at the Titan's name. Loki felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"Loki," Thor chastised. The Trickster rolled his eyes. He forgot. Being a 'good guy' meant he wasn't allowed to threaten murder or torture…at least not so blatantly.

Loki turned to Stark.

"Well? I need to be _in there_ to cast the spell. Open the door." Tony eyed Caldor warily, and his lips settled into a hard line.

"Can't you work your magic from out here? It's just glass between you." Loki was about ready to bang his head into said glass, he was so tired. He had to use a lot of his self control not to snap at the inventor.

"The spell I am going to use requires skin-to-skin contact. That means _no_. I cannot 'work my magic' from out here. So, _please._ Open. The. Door." Tony muttered, _Bossy_ , under his breath, but told Jarvis to do as Loki said.

The Avengers parted to allow Loki to enter the chamber.

"Jarvis, seal the door behind me. I do not want to give dear Caldor any false hope." He could hear the Avengers protesting, but the AI did as he requested. The Avengers calling to him was muffled once the door was shut.

Loki stood inside the cell and observed Caldor for a few moments. The man did nothing but glare at him with the utmost hatred. Finally, Loki sighed and stepped forward to crouch in front of the man.

"We were friends- once upon a time, Caldor. I used to wonder how you could have turned so…evil. Now, after my own downfall, I understand." Something other than complete rage flickered in Caldor's dark eyes, before being shut out again. Loki stared into Caldor's eyes for a few moments longer, before conjuring a knife.

He heard the Avengers begin frantically pounding on the glass and snapped. He growled at the heroes.

"If you do not stop that infernal noise I _will_ kill him just to spite you! Now, silence!" Turning his back on them, he used the knife to cut open the sleeves on Caldor's ripped leather armor without having to remove the man's shackles. He banished the knife and then sat crossed-legged directly across from his once-friend.

Loki grabbed hold of Caldor's bared forearms despite the man's struggles and began his casting. It was like searching for a particular string that was slightly thicker than the others that tangled together to form Caldor's life energy. After a few minutes of digging around, Loki finally found it. He took a deep breath to fortify himself, for what he was about to do would not just hurt Caldor.

He mentally grabbed ahold of the string representing Caldor's magic…and _pulled_.

* * *

 **Kind of another cliff hanger, but hopefully not as bad as the last one. ;P I think Loki/Kira deserves a nap. And so do I!**

 **Please review:)**


	21. Chapter 21

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 21

 **What is this?! It's...a new chapter! A day early! Someone must be looking at for you guys. ;)**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Where Does It Go?**

As soon as Loki and Caldor started screaming, the Avengers ran to the door.

"Jarvis, open-" Tony was cut off by Thor who stationed himself in front of the cell's entrance.

"Thor, what are you doing?!" The golden prince winced as Loki's screams cut off for a moment before picking right back up again.

"If you interrupt Loki or break his concentration, he could die. I will not allow this to happen." Tony growled at the God of Thunder.

"You knew that and you just let him go in there?!" Somehow, the screaming got worse. "What is _happening_ in there?!"

"Is Caldor fighting the spell or something," Steve asked. Thor turned his head to look at his brother and sighed.

"Loki has explained to me before that attacking magic directly when your very core is filled with magic causes pain. It is like all the magic users are interconnected and attacking that connection is like attacking yourself." Bruce's brows bunched together as he watched the scene inside the cell.

"So did it hurt Caldor to do this to Loki?" Thor frowned as he thought about it.

"I cannot say, but I do not think so. What Caldor did was lock Loki's magic away and then slowly siphon it off. What Loki is attempting is to completely rid Caldor of his magic in one fowl swoop." Tony raised a brow at the Asgardian in front of the door.

"You sure know a lot more about magic than you let on, Big Guy." Thor shrugged.

"Loki would talk for hours on the subject when we were growing up. He merely assumed I wasn't listening." Tony snorted, trying not to listen to the screams that were still going strong. He truly had to fight the urge to start pacing when Loki and Caldor were still screaming after another five minutes.

Suddenly, it stopped. Everyone held there breath.

Loki and Caldor were both rigid; sweat ran down their faces. Loki's knuckles were bleach bone white with how tightly he gripped Caldor's forearms. The other man was sure to have bruises ringing his arms whenever Loki pulled away.

After what felt like a hour of no movement and absolute silence, Caldor slumped forward and Loki bowed his head, breathing harshly. Loki had to force his fingers to release Caldor one by one. Once it was done, he lifted his head and met Caldor's defeated gaze.

"I cannot and will not apologize for what I have done, Caldor. Because you were once the only friend I possessed, I do not wish you ill. However, I cannot wish you well, either." Loki sighed deeply. "Goodbye." The Trickster, with great effort, pushed himself to his feet and stumbled towards the cell door.

"J-Jarvis…open…" The AI took it as a complete order and the cell door slid open. Thor was in the perfect position to catch Loki as his brother suddenly pitched forward.

"What's wrong?!" Despite being on the brink of unconsciousness, Loki rolled his eyes at Tony's outburst.

"I am…exhausted, St-stark. Too much…energy. Thor…bed." The golden prince chuckled. This wasn't the first time he had been tasked to take Loki to bed for rest. His younger brother had experienced magical exhaustion more than once in their childhood. However, Loki was considerably bigger now, and despite the weight he had lost, heavier. Thor let his brother know just that.

Loki huffed out a breath.

"I thought…you were the mighty, strong Thor." For all Loki's teasing, he shifted into Kira. Thor easily scooped her into his arms, her face tucked into his neck. He promised his friends he would return and walked off with Kira towards the elevator. She was out before the doors had even slid open.

* * *

Luckily, for Thor's sake, Kira did not wake up when he got her to her room. Once there, he laid her out on her bed and looked down at her. He weighed his options and decided _yes_ with a firm nod that no one saw.

Thor searched through her drawers until he found suitable sleeping clothes. Then, with practiced fingers, he unhooked, unlatched and unlaced every part of Kira's armor, until it all was removed. The golden prince only hesitated a moment before removing her undershirt and trousers. Within seconds he had her redressed, and Thor released the breath he was holding. More than once in their youth he had had to dress an unconscious Loki, but it was slightly different when doing it to his adult…sister.

However, the deed was done, and Thor lifted Kira back into his arms, pulled the covers back and laid her down. Once she was nicely tucked in, he bent to press a soft kiss to her temple. He beamed when she unconsciously leaned into it. Loki had done the same when he was very young.

Thor won even more brownie points for the day when he neatly folded all parts of Kira's armor and set them on top of her dresser. Feeling pleased with himself, though also quite exhausted, he left to go back down and speak with his teammates. However, he didn't get very far as he ran into them in the common room before he made it to the elevator.

"My friends, did you decide not to question the prisoner?" Clint shrugged.

"We were gonna, but as soon as we removed the gag he started yelling and cursing us out. Just generally making a nuisance of himself. Nat put it back on him when he called her a quim and started cursing our mothers in Russian. We can try again later."

Thor nodded and sighed deeply.

"If that is the case then I think I will retire to my rooms early this evening." As he turned, Tony called out to him,

"What?! You're not going to stay for Shawarma?" Thor paused.

"You have obtained Shawarma?" Tony smirked at Thor's back.

"Yep. It should be here in t minus five minutes." Thor was again caught in a dilemma for a few moments, before he made up his mind. He turned around and fell onto the couch next to Tony.

"Very well. I will partake of the Shawarma and then depart for rest." Stark patted his large shoulder and nodded.

"Good man." As promised, the food soon arrived. It wasn't long before each of the Avenger's was stuffing their faces, sans Bruce. He hadn't Hulked out, so he wasn't starving, but still it was Shawarma. He just partook at a more civilized pace.

When the others all had their claws filled with the delicious meal, he pulled aside one of the many extras and stood. Walking into the kitchen, he pulled out a tupperware container and sealed the food inside.

"Bruce, you better not be squirreling away my Shawarma!" Dr. Banner rolled his eyes and set the container in the fridge.

"I'm saving some for Kira, if you are so desperate to know. She'll probably be really hungry when she gets up and I distinctly remember her almost forking you over the last of it when it got it after that battle with Doom." Clint snorted as he remembered Tony's face, when Kira's fork lodged into the table two millimeters from his hand. Thor chuckled at the image and laughed even harder when Steve recounted the story for him.

"Ah, yes. Loki would never eat as much as the other warriors of Asgard. He was also very…picky of what he did consume. My brother would go days without eating when he was learning a new spell but when he succeeded, he would eat more than any of us combined. And when he did he was extremely protective of his meal. Volstagg learned that lesson very quickly. He tried to steal off of Loki's plate when he wasn't looking. Volstagg was lucky to still have his fingers." The meal soon dissolved into more relaxed eating and exchanging funny stories. Now that Loki was on their side and he and Thor were on good terms again, Thor took that as his cue to tell all of their childhood adventures.

After another hour, Thor's second wind had died down and he finally took his leave. One look at his teammates said they would be up for a while yet.

Thor dropped Mjolnir on the floor and quickly removed his armor. He washed his wounds in the small en-suite bathroom and was out as soon as his head touched the pillow.

* * *

When Kira opened her eyes, the sun was still up. She was surprised that she felt so rested after only a few hours sleep. Normally when she drained her magic levels as viciously and quickly as she had, she slept for much longer. Kira smiled. Maybe her body was just getting stronger and was able to handle her magic use better. That thought was shattered when she looked at the clock on her nightstand she realized that the sun was actually _coming back up_. She had slept the day and night away.

Kira sighed and sat up, her muscles protesting and her very bones aching. She felt, and how she hated to even think it, fragile. The spell she had cast on Caldor the other day was dangerous. Had she made one wrong move, they both would have died. _Well, good thing I'm so proficient at magic._

Kira sat on the edge of her bed, bracing herself to stand, when she finally noticed what she was wearing. Pajamas. Not. Her. Armor. She looked around and found her missing clothing folded neatly and placed on her dresser. Kira rolled her eyes but she couldn't even muster up anger at Thor, only a mild, fond irritation. She should just be glad he didn't leave her armor in a pile on the floor for her to trip on.

Her growling stomach reminded her that she had been planning to get up. With considerable effort, she made her legs hold her up. The first step or two towards the door were a challenge, but eventually she smoothed out her walk. As she walked towards the kitchen, Kira ran her fingers through her hair, wincing whenever she pulled out a knot.

Bruce and Steve were eating when she finally arrived, fingers caught on a particularly tight knot. The two men smiled at her. As Bruce set his tea down he pointed to the fridge.

"I saved you some Shawarma from last night. It _should_ be in a container. If not, blame Tony." Kira's eyes lit up at the mention of Shawarma, and she was digging in the refrigerator before Bruce was even done speaking. She found the aforementioned container (Stark was safe for one day) and went to grab a plate.

As Kira heated the Shawarma in the microwave, she got another plate and piled it high with the waffles and cheesy eggs Steve had made for everyone. The timer went off, and she soon had her hands full of food. Despite her protesting muscles she made it to the table with all of her food and the plates in tact.

Steve's eyebrows went up as she began shoveling the food into her mouth.

"Thor wasn't kidding. Where does it all go?" Kira looked up at Steve in confusion without stopping her massacre. Realizing Kira didn't understand Steve's turn of phrase, Bruce clarified.

"Steve means, you're eating so much, but you're so skinny. In essence, where does all the food go, because your size suggests you aren't eating that much?" Kira nodded in understanding and took a moment to breathe.

"You are a warrior yourself, so you understand the amount of energy your body burns during battle. Well, magic is part of my core. When I use it up, I am essentially using all of my energy. Imagine if the Battle of New York lasted three days and you never got a rest. You would be hungry too." With that, Kira turned back to her food.

The elevator down the hall *dinged* and Tony came in to get more coffee, just as Kira was shoving the last half of a waffle in her mouth. Stark full on stopped and stared. He blinked down at his coffee mug, then looked back at Kira. With a shake of his head, he moved on to the coffee machine and didn't comment.

"Jarvis, how are Tweedy Bird and Widow doing with Caldor?" Kira looked up in interest and chugged half of the glass of orange juice Bruce slid in front of her.

 _"He is no longer shouting and has lessoned the number of times he insults Agent Barton's relationship with Agent Romanoff. Based on Agent Romanoff's body language, I can assume he has given up more than he has intended."_ Stark smirked.

Just then Thor came into the kitchen to have his second breakfast. He had gone down to the gym earlier that morning to burn off extra energy while he waited for the others to wake. He had not had to sleep nearly as long as Kira had.

He smiled broadly when he saw Kira and greeted her with a smack on the back.

"Bro-Er-Sister! It is good to see you awake and hungry!" Kira meanwhile was coughing and choking on the food she had just inhaled. She finally got herself back under control and glared at her brother.

"Wish I could say the same," she rasped. Thor grinned sheepishly and went to get himself some food as well. When he sat, Kira was nearly done and was slowing down. Those in the kitchen had a pleasant conversation going, and when Natasha and Clint came back and joined them it turned to how they were going to deal with Caldor.

Kira opened her mouth to suggest something, when a loud explosion sounded outside. Everyone flinched back from the blinding light but were surprised at not being thrown backwards. Before Kira could turn around and see what had happened, Thor shouted a greeting.

"Mother! Father! What are you doing here?!"

* * *

 **I just picture Loki flip flopping between Loki and Kira whenever he feels like it now that it's okay with Thor and the Avengers.**

 **Please review:)**


	22. Chapter 22

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 22

 **Hey all! So, this is the second to last chapter of Imitations Carved Deep. Very sad, I know. But it must come to a close. In the meantime please enjoy this new chapter. :)**

 **PS I have been misspelling Calder for the last few chapters. It is CALDER not CALDOR. Sorry!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Baby Blue Eye**

Kira's limbs didn't seem to be cooperating, but she eventually managed to stand and turn.

The Allmother and Allfather were followed by a group of guards. For a moment, Kira feared that they were there for her, but the way Frigga was smiling calmed her racing heart…a bit. Thor happily stepped forward to greet their parents, while Kira hung back with the other Avengers. They didn't seem to be sure of what to do either.

Kira watched Thor embrace his mother and clasp his father's forearm. It was rare to see the King and Queen of Asgard so informal, even with their own children. Even the guards could not hide their shock.

As the royal couple turned their attention towards her, Kira straightaway realized that she was not properly dressed. Her magic levels were still too low for her to remedy the situation. Ergo, she was forced to curtsey as best she could in her sweatpants and overly large t-shirt. _Hel! I am not even wearing a Midgardian brazier. The Allfather will have me imprisoned for indecency if nothing else._ She kept her head bowed so as to avoid seeing their disapproving gazes.

"Allfather. Allmother." Kira rocked back as she was suddenly wrapped up in Frigga's arms. Frigga pulled back after a solid minute. She brushed a stray lock of hair back from Kira's face.

"It has been so long since I have seen my daughter." At this she cast a sharp look at Odin. "I love you as Loki just as much, but…there is something about getting to braid a daughter's hair." Kira's cheeks flushed and she glared at Thor who was trying to hide a laugh.

"Thor, stop teasing your sister," Frigga threw over her shoulder without even looking at her other son. After soaking in her daughter's presence for a few moments longer, Frigga stepped aside to allow Odin to approach.

The Allfather appeared…flustered and unsure, something Kira had never seen before.

"Loki." Kira tensed, waiting for the inevitable slight on her appearance or character. "Daughter." Kira's mouth fell open, and she was certain her heart just stopped beating for a full three seconds. Before she could regather her wits, Odin stepped forward, slowly as if approaching a frightened animal, and embraced her. _Her!_ Even as Loki, she hadn't gotten affection like this…and so public too! She couldn't even begin to imagine the threats Lady Frigga must have come up with to make the Allfather act in such a manner.

Honestly, it was extremely overwhelming. Thankfully, Odin didn't prolong the experience and soon stepped back, his stoic expression back in place.

"Um…hi? Not that this isn't a touching family moment, but…I usually like to know why alien royalty are visiting my tower." Steve looked pale, thinking Thor's dad was going to strike Tony down then and there, but he also looked like he wanted to strangle the inventor himself. Neither of these things happened, fortunately for Tony. Instead, Odin met his gaze full on and spoke in a commanding tone.

"I have come to speak to Calder and determine whether he should see justice on Asgard or Midgard for his crimes. The Allmother… _requested_ to accompany me." Just looking at the way Lady Frigga couldn't take her eyes off of Kira made it clear why she wanted to come.

"We'll…escort you then," Steve offered. "Agents Romanoff and Barton were able to get him to start talking civilly. It helped that Loki took his magic away." None of the Avengers were expecting the shocked gasp from Lady Frigga or the growl that came from the Allfather. Even Thor seemed thrown a bit off balance. Kira winced and glared at Steve for saying anything.

"Kira! That was very dangerous-"

"You deliberately took punishment into your own hands before even waiting for a judgement!" Both Frigga and Kira glared at Odin then, for different reasons. The Allfather was shocked at how similar the expression was on both of their faces.

"My comrades needed to speak with him, but he could not be trusted with a free tongue, not with his magic still in his control. How was I supposed to know that you would be coming not a day later?!" Odin snarled.

"At the very least you should have attempted to contact us through Heimdall. You've completely disregarded-" Kira shouted in frustration.

"Ahhh! Thor has done much worse countless times! And each time he was praised for it. He was practically given a metal of honor if the foes he was sent to _capture_ came back missing a limb or two." Thor winced and gave an unfortunate nod to the question his teammates were silently asking.

"Silence!" Even the Avengers, sans Natasha, flinched at the harsh tone of the Allfather. The King of Asgard glared at Kira, and she fought hard to keep her shoulders from bowing under the weight of that stare.

"If you had let me finish…You completely disregarded your own safety." Kira's mouth dropped open but she didn't say anything. She truly must have been dreaming; it was the only explanation for all of this. She did not have a response, but luckily, it seemed that the Allfather was not expecting one. Odin sighed into the quiet and straightened back into the King.

"I must speak to the prisoner, now. Man of Iron, you will escort us." Stark wisely kept his mouth shut for once. Tony walked them to the extra large elevator a bit farther down the hall so the Allfather and all of his entourage could fit inside. As soon as the door closed, the Avengers hurried to the stairs. The all managed to arrive more or less at the same time, though some (see Bruce) were more out of breath than others.

For all that Kira was not happy to see the Allfather, Calder actually looked quite pleased. He even stood, somewhat shakily, to greet them.

"Ah, Allfather. I was wondering when I'd be graced with your presence. I thought I'd have to come to you." Though Calder was now wearing his true face, Odin could see how all of them were convinced that it was Loki. Calder had his mannerisms and way of speaking down to a T.

"Calder, Son of Borain, are you aware of the charges being brought against you?" Calder made a show of thinking about it.

"Let me guess, more treason, more terrorism. You are probably going to throw attempted murder into the pot too. Am I getting warm?" Odin narrowed his eye, but did not otherwise respond to Calder's question.

"I am here to judge whether you are to be punished on Midgard or Asgard for your crimes. Do you have anything to say on this regard?" Calder obviously had not been expecting the situation he now found himself in. They all saw the flicker of surprise and fear, before he sneered at them.

"Two lovely choices. How ever shall I decide?" As Odin opened his mouth to snarl something at the villain, he found himself interrupted.

"We could always just let him go." Every head whipped towards Kira, including Calder's. As everyone's eyes were focussed on Kira, only she saw the absolute terror on Calder's face. She bit back a smirk.

"Kira, what the hell!?"

"Are you insane?!"

"After everything he's done-"

"Brother, what are you playing at?" It took Odin growling to get them all to shut up, for which Kira was actually grateful. The Allfather looked at her with a critical eye.

"You would defend this man?" Kira snorted.

"Hardly. I'm merely suggesting that we let the Norns decide. If you let him go, he won't bother anyone again." Clint chuffed.

"I highly doubt that." Kira raised a brow at the archer and stepped forward.

"Really? But, poor Calder here has no magic. Not to mention there is more than one certain someone he's pissed off. Let him go, and he'll spend the rest of his life running. It won't be long before he's never heard from again. He'll either be crawling into the deepest, darkest hole he can find…or he'll be dead." Her words were addressed directly to Calder. The villain grew more and more pale as Kira spoke, and by the end of her little speech was sweating. Just for giggles, Kira leaned forward and spoke quietly so only he could hear her. "Personally, I'm betting on the latter."

Tony leaned over to Steve, both of them having matching expressions of shock and…yes, a little bit of fear.

"Remind me never to piss her off," Tony muttered. Steve nodded readily. Kira could be scary. A few of them jumped when Calder suddenly slammed his fist against the glass barrier, but Kira didn't even blink. Her smirk only deepened and she backed up until she stood next to Lady Frigga.

"You know that is not an option, Kira." Kira sighed and smiled at the other woman.

" _I_ know that, but he doesn't. He tormented me for so long. I just…wanted a little pay back where I could get it." The Allmother's stern expression softened into- not pity- but sadness for her child's pain. She looped her arm through Kira's and pulled her close. Frigga clasped hold of Kira's hand with both of her own. The Allmother could feel the exhaustion coming off of her daughter in waves.

As they watched as Odin stepped forward to regain control of the situation, an idea came to her. She leaned close to whisper in Kira's ear.

"Why don't you and I return to your quarters? Thor will inform us later of all that transpires." Kira was reluctant, wanting to witness the events for herself, but it didn't take much prodding and bribery on Frigga's part to get her to agree. At Kira's nod, they silently retreated back to the elevator down the hall. Frigga's magic might have helped a bit with their getaway.

Meanwhile, the others watched as the Allfather slowly broke Calder down. The man eventually caved and gave the King of Asgard the information he wanted. Then, the Allfather did something none of them expected.

"Calder, Son of Borain, I hereby banish you to the realm of Jotunheim, where you will live out the rest of your days without magic." Calder balked.

"Wha- That was not one of the options, Allfather. You cannot do this!" Natasha stepped forward then.

"Allfather, while I understand that he is one of yours, our Director-" Odin held up a hand to stop her and spoke gently but firmly.

"I have already spoken to your leader, Director Fury, and he agreed to whatever punishment I saw fit…as long as the prisoner did not remain on your planet." That made all of them balk. Odin had played all of them. Calder was furious and promptly threw a Hulk sized tantrum. He was promptly ignored.

Tony leaned forward to mutter in Bruce's ear.

"Can you imagine that stare down? I mean, does it count as blinking if they each only have one eye?" Bruce bit back his inappropriate laughter and shoved Tony back. As the Allfather ordered his men to take Calder into custody, Tony looked around.

"Hey…where's Kira?" That got everyone's attention. Thor frowned.

"Mother is gone too." He thought for a moment, and then his frown transformed into a soft smile.

"Ah. I believe I know where they are." He led the charge back upstairs. Odin and the two assassins stayed back in the common area with the guards to deal with Calder while Thor and the other Avengers walked down the hall.

Eventually, Thor stopped outside of Kira's room.

"Uh…Thor?" The Golden Prince put a finger to his lips to quiet his friends and slowly pushed the door open. Immediately, they heard a soft humming coming from inside. Being the nosy friends that they were (though Steve and Bruce would never admit it), they stuck their heads in and took in the scene before them.

Kira sat cross-legged on the bed with the Allmother sitting tall behind her. The Queen of Asgard was humming as she ran a brush through Kira's hair. Thor's sister had her eyes closed and was breathing so deeply they were almost convinced she was asleep. All in all, it was hypnotizing.

After a few minutes, Frigga set the brush down and ran her fingers through Kira's black curtain of hair. With a skill born of much practice, she began parting and weaving strands together into an intricate pattern of braids. When she was finished, she smiled and waved her hand, summoning a soft blue flower that Bruce could identify as a "baby blue eye flower".

Frigga tugged Kira's shoulder lightly to turn her around and stuck the flower into a braid by her temple. The Allmother cupped her daughter's cheek and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Kira. It has been too long since we have last done this." The smile Kira gave to the Allmother in return was one Thor had not seen since they were small children.

"It truly has. I'm sure our audience enjoyed it as well." Kira and the Allmother burst out laughing as the four men jumped and, with the help of Thor in the back, fell through the door and into a heap on the ground.

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 **I really like Frigga. She makes me happy.**

 **Please review:)**


	23. Chapter 23

Imitations Carved Deep: Chapter 23

 **Guys, it's the last chapter! And it's a day early! I want to thank you all for sticking with me on this crazy journey. I'm happy to make you smile, laugh, cry and pitch a fit with my writing.**

 **Please enjoy the final chapter of Imitations Carved Deep.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them...so sad.**

 **Warnings: Severe angst. Torture (in the past). Implied rape (in past). Don't read if any of these trigger.**

 **Return**

When Kira and Frigga finally stopped laughing at the group of men tangled together on the floor, they sobered and stood. The others eventually made it back to their feet and all of them headed back to the common area together. Kira was flanked on either side by her mother and Thor. She would never admit it, but it did make her relax a bit. Odin raised a brow at Kira's new hairstyle, realizing where they had disappeared to, but didn't comment.

Kira, predictably, ignored the Allfather and instead only had eyes for Calder.

To say it was sad to see Calder go would have been a blatant lie. Though they had once been friends, Kira knew that young, shy, kind man she had known was long gone. In his place was a cruel, twisted villain who would hurt whoever was necessary to get what he wanted. The two of them held eyes for a few moments, but Calder was the first to break and look away. Odin deemed that to be the cue to leave.

"Thor, Loki," Kira knew she would never get him to call her the correct name, "You may return with us or stay. Calder will start his sentence as soon as we return to Asgard." With that, the Allfather turned and the whole entourage started to walk back out to the balcony. Thor felt a bit torn until he noticed Kira making no move to follow.

Odin was not surprised by this but there was another absence that made him stop.

"My Queen?" Frigga met Odin's inquiring gaze head on.

"I would stay here, if Mr. Stark would have me. It has been too long since I have spent time with my children and even longer since I have visited Midgard." All eyes turned to the inventor and he gave Frigga a small, polite smile.

"Of course. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like." Kira bit back a snort. She had never heard Stark speak so formally. Odin appeared rather upset by her declaration, but inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"Very well. I can only trust that you will not leave me to my lonesome for too long." As Odin and Frigga held each others' eyes for a solid minute, Kira knew she was witnessing the great love between them. It was nearly nonexistent to an outsider, but Kira could see the Allfather and the Allmother loved each other very deeply.

She was glad when they finally stopped staring, though; it was getting awkward and uncomfortable.

Odin didn't even have to call out to Heimdall, and in a flash he and the guards and Calder were taken back up to Asgard. The ensuing quiet only lasted for about five seconds. Frigga turned and smiled brightly at her two children.

"Well, I say I've got about five Midgardian days before I start getting desperate requests to return home." Lady Frigga turned to Stark and bowed her head. "I thank you very much for your hospitality. It is a great gift to be able to spend time with my children." Tony gave the Allmother a very genuine smile.

"It is no trouble at all, Your Majesty. But…I wouldn't be against any embarrassing childhood stories of Thor and Kira as repayment." Frigga smirked at Tony's teasing.

"Oh, I think I can spare a few." The identical horrified looks on both Kira and Thor's face almost made Frigga burst out laughing again.

And so, Thor, Kira and Frigga stayed at the Tower. The Allmother shocked both of her children by magicking her Asgardian attire into Midgardian fashion. The Avengers took turns showing the Asgardians around the city. Thor really enjoyed the parks, while Kira and Frigga loved the museums. Dinners were when everyone came together and discussed their adventures. Frigga, true to her word, did share a few embarrassing stories of Kira and Thor's younger years, making them both groan or blush in turn.

Eventually though Frigga did receive a message almost begging for her return, via one of Odin's ravens. They all had been gathered for breakfast; Steve was making pancakes for everyone. Suddenly a raven landed on the balcony railing outside and cawed loudly. The Allmother sighed and glanced at a calendar nearby.

"Five Midgardian days, just as I expected. Your father is nothing if not predictable." Kira felt a twisting in her heart knowing that her mother was going to be leaving. By the look on Thor's face he would either be leaving with her or not far behind. To think that a year ago she would have been thrilled at such a prospect.

The Allmother stood and went to go speak with the bird, leaving the others looking after to her.

"Well, you know what they say. Behind every great man is a great woman," Bruce said over the rim of his tea mug. Natasha lifted a brow as if to say 'Ain't that the truth.' Thor nodded as well.

"That is a very true statement. Mother has aided Father for many centuries and is the only one able to truly change his mind. The Council does not hold a tenth of the Allfather's ear that the Allmother does." Kira snorted.

"I always told you: Odin doesn't rule Asgard; Mother does. Besides, the Council is full of incompetents. They care more for their place in the pecking order than they do for how the realm is run."

"Yeah, they didn't sound very pleasant from that one story you told us." Kira nodded at Stark's comment.

"Yes, well, there wasn't much out of the ordinary with that incident. They feel they must be paid so much respect and homage, and if they are not, you are forever doomed in any matter of justice or basic rights. I never gave them the honor and respect they craved and refused to be cowed by their threats. Though, there wasn't much they could do to me as the Son of Odin." Kira smirked. "You should have seen their faces when I was made king when Odin fell into his Sleep. I fully believe they thought I would smite them where they stood."

Thor laughed heartily.

"Despite your dislike of them and their dislike of you, you would not do such a thing." Kira's lips pinched together.

"I was certainly tempted." Before anyone could say anything else, Lady Frigga returned. She rolled her eyes at her children's questioning gazes.

"Your Father is convinced the realm will collapse if I don't return as soon as possible. However, I refuse to let Captain Roger's lovely breakfast go to waste." Steve blushed slightly at the compliment and dished up the rest of the pancakes.

They ate in comfortable silence, though the moment everyone was done, all eyes turned to the three Asgardians. Lady Frigga gave Tony a bittersweet smile.

"I am in your debt, Mr. Stark, for allowing me the time to spend with my children and to visit Midgard. I am grateful to all of you for what you have done for my children, fighting along side them, protecting them, _believing them_. I cannot promise that I will be able to return to Midgard in your lifetime, but know you are always welcome on Asgard." She stood and with a shimmer of light, her clothes returned to the regal gowns of royalty. Everyone stood them to escort her out to the balcony.

Once their, Thor turned to the others.

"I believe I should return with my Mother. I left rather suddenly the last time and have yet to be back to my home in a time without turmoil. Rest assured I will return." As Thor embraced his teammates, Frigga turned her attention to Kira.

"Would you…come home, Kira? You face no punishment and your name has been cleared across all of Asgard. You haven't been home in so long." The others heard the tail end of her words and Kira stood there, self-consciously biting her lip.

A part of her was very much still bitter and angry with all of Asgard and Odin, but another part missed the gilded halls greatly. With all eyes on her, it was a tough decision….

 **3 Months Later**

Tony sighed for the umpteenth time and Clint, finally fed up, threw a pillow at his head. The inventor scowled at the archer.

"Would you stop pining?! If I didn't know how much you cared about Pepper, I'd say you were head-over-heels for Kira." Tony scowled.

"I am not pining. I just liked having someone to talk to who could actually keep up." Bruce, sitting in the armchair next to Tony's spot, snorted.

"Gee, thanks." Stark smiled brightly at Dr. Banner.

"You know I love you, Brucie. But don't tell me you don't miss her too." In actual fact, they all missed Kira/Loki in some way or another. She had decided to return to Asgard with her mother and brother months ago. Beyond a weird conversation with a raven to let them know that Thanos had been rather easily taken care of, there hadn't been any contact since they had gone.

"Loki burned a lot of bridges the last time he was in Asgard, and there was a lot of confusion and hurt. It takes a while to make that all relatively okay again, Tony. They'll come back. They promised." Tony rolled his eyes at Steve.

"Forever the optimist, Cap." Steve gave him an unimpressed look.

"Well someone's gotta be on this team." Before Tony and Steve could go at it like an old married couple, Jarvis headed them off.

 _"Sir, someone is coming up the elevator."_ Tony furrowed his brows at his AI.

"Way to be vague, Jarv. I take it they're a friendly and you're not letting strangers into my Tower?" Jarvis stayed unusually quiet and they all tensed when the elevator ding echoed from down the hall. They stood as two voices came closer.

After a few moments, Agent Coulson came around the corner laughing at whatever Loki had said.

"Agent! Reindeer Games!" Coulson rolled his eyes at Tony's enthusiasm while Loki only smirked pleasantly. Clint raised a brow at the two.

"So, what? You guys are friends now?" Loki smiled at Agent Coulson.

"I was going to return to the Tower soon, but there was another stop I decided to make first. I had heard what Calder had done to your Agent Coulson while wearing my face and felt the need to meet the man who stood up to an Asgardian in such a manner." At the two assassin's concerned expressions, Loki held up his hand as he reassured them.

"I first appeared as Kira so as not to give him too great of a shock. When everything was explained, he wanted to see me as Loki. Apparently, he could see the difference right away." Coulson nodded.

"It was definitely in the eyes. And yes Stark, Fury was not happy with the impromptu visit. I was told, quite loudly, to escort Mr. Odinson 'back to the damn Tower where those nut jobs can deal with him.'" Tony barked out a laugh and finally stepped forward. He surprised Loki with his hug.

"Yeah, and you totally weren't pining." Tony flipped Clint off without stopping the hug, but he eventually pulled back.

"Aw, Stark, did you miss me?" Tony shrugged, smile still firmly in place.

"Meh, maybe a little. I think Bruce missed you more though. You snarked with me and kept me from poking Bruce with sharp things in boredom." Loki shot Bruce a sympathetic look.

"How did you survive these past three months?" Bruce gave his typical long suffering sigh.

"Lots of deep breathing and picturing beating Tony over the head with an arm from one of his many suits." Loki laughed and Steve finally gestured for Coulson and Loki to come further into the room and sit down.

"So, Loki, are back for a while? Can he help out on the team?" Steve's second question was directed at Coulson.

"We've decided that for now, it's probably a good idea for Loki to only be Kira in public for now. Maybe later we can start slowly introducing him as Loki being part of the team." Loki nodded along.

"And in answer to your first question: indefinitely. Mother sends her regards. Thor will be along in a week or so. Odin is trying to finalize some clean up from the damage done by Thanos and is requiring Thor's presence as he is to be the future king." Tony barked out a laugh.

"Yeah? How is Point Break doing with his kingly studies? I gotta admit, I can't picture him sitting through meetings and listening to peasant complaints day in and day out." So, Loki launched into some amusing tales of Thor's "studies" and seamlessly slid back into his place in the group.

As he grew comfortable and conversation flowed easily, Loki couldn't stop the smile from blooming on his face. He had found a place for himself, one where he could still be Thor's brother and still be Loki…or even Kira. He wasn't judged for his family or his magic, but for who he was.

It was better than anything he had ever dreamed and nothing he had ever expected. It was perfect.

 **The End**

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 **Again, thank you to all of my readers out there! You make it all worth while. There will NOT be a sequel to this story, but any Harry Potter fans out there, keep your eyes peeled! I've been working on a new HP fic behind the scenes of this one and should begin posting soon.**

 **Love to all!**

 **Please review:)**


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